Extra-inning shot gives Georgia first sweep at Mississippi State since 2004
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Extra-inning dramatics carried No. 4 Georgia to a sweep in Starkville on Saturday afternoon that was 22 years in the making.
Michael O’Shaughnessy blasted a 3-run homer in the 10th inning that broke a 5-5 tie and powered the Bulldogs to an 8-5 victory over fifth-ranked Mississippi State. The home run also gave Georgia its first sweep in Starkville since 2004.
The thrilling win in the series finale, together with a 10-9 victory on Thursday in the opener and another 3-1 nail-biter of a win on Friday, gave Georgia a banner weekend in Starkville and improved the Dawgs’ overall record to 27-6. Georgia also improved to 10-2 in the SEC. Meanwhile, Mississippi State dropped to 25-7 overall and 7-5 in the SEC after a weekend at home to forget.
It was O’Shaughnessy’s eighth home run of the season, and it continued a power-packed trend for Georgia baseball this year. The Bulldogs lead the nation with 92 home runs, so they’ve been winning in multiple ways, but the long ball has been at the forefront of their success this season.
The sweep also continued a stellar trend in SEC play for Georgia, which has now won each of its 4 conference series this season. That has put the Dawgs in first place in the SEC as the month of April gets going.
Georgia’s incredible weekend in Starkville checked off another box in the Bulldogs baseball record book — it was the first time, according to records dating back to 1990, that Georgia won a top-5 SEC road series.
The Dawgs used 7 pitchers in the grueling victory on Saturday, with Caden Aoki getting the victory. He improved to 3-0 on the season with 2.1 scoreless innings of work, striking out 3.
We’re in the heat of the college baseball season right now, but the College World Series is the endgame for every team playing right now. Here is what the Kalshi market is currently saying about the top teams in the mix to be holding that national championship trophy in Omaha come June:
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
