Georgia storms back to claim victory in super regional slugfest

A seven-run deficit before noon?

No biggie for the No. 3 national seed Georgia Bulldogs.

In Game 1 of a best-of-three super regional, Georgia hit five home runs to take down No. 14 national seed Mississippi State 13-12 at Foley Field Saturday. Georgia is now just one win away from the College World Series.

The day started rough for the Georgia Bulldogs, who were down 7-0 in the middle of the fourth inning.

The Bulldogs got two clutch homers from Michael O’Shaughnessy, sliding in at third base with Tre Phelps suspended for Game 1. O’Shaughnessy finished with five RBIs. Center fielder Rylan Lujo added two home runs and catcher Daniel Jackson hit one homer, getting Georgia on the board in its five-run fourth inning to start the comeback.

Georgia continues to lead Division I with a program-record 170 home runs.

“It was a gritty day,” O’Shaughnessy said. “I mean, I don’t think we’ve gotten punched first like that, that big, all year. And honestly, we came back in after, and we knew (Georgia starter Joey Volchko) was going to go out there and still compete, and everyone coming out of the pen was going to compete, and as hitters we were like, if we just scrap one run at a time, take it in at-bat at a time, and just fight every at-bat, make adjustments mid at-bat, pitch to pitch, that we knew we were going to stay in that game and have a chance all day.”

Per ESPN, Georgia is only the second team to come back to win a super regional after trailing by seven-plus runs. It was the first time since 2013 the Bulldogs had overcome a 7-run deficit.

Volchko struck out the side in the first inning but gave up a three-run home run to Mississippi State’s Reed Stallman. Mississippi State scored two more after a fielding error by left fielder Kenny Ishikawa, who led off for Georgia in Phelps’ absence, and added another run on an RBI single by Jacob Parker.

Volchko recorded a much-needed 1-2-3 inning in the third, but conceded another solo shot in the fourth inning. All in all, Volchko gave up seven runs, four earned, on seven hits, walking two and striking out six in five innings pitched.

“I want to tip my hat to Joey,” Georgia coach Wes Johnson said. “I thought him just going out there, continuing to compete after giving up, you know, after having a tough inning. I thought that was huge for us.”

In the fifth inning, O’Shaughnessy’s two-run home run held up after the review confirmed it was fair to tie the score at 7-7, with a double from shortstop Kolby Branch plating two to give Georgia its first lead of the day, 9-7.

Trailing by two in the bottom of the eighth, O’Shaughnessy hit a three-run shot to put Georgia back in control.

“An incredible college baseball game,” Mississippi State coach Brian O’Connor said. “Very, very offensive. It seemed like the ballpark played small today. Obviously, we jumped up to a 7-0 lead, and they had the best approach after the first couple innings that I’ve seen against (Mississippi State starter) Tomas Valincius. He just had a tough time putting them away.

“Throughout the game there was multiple pitches that we just didn’t execute. When you’re facing a great offense, if you don’t do that, they’re going to capitalize on it. Unfortunate that we came out on the wrong end of it, but our guys have a lot of pride, and we’ll be ready to play (Sunday), that’s for sure.”

Valincius gave up seven earned runs on eight hits, walking one and striking out four in 4 1/3 innings pitched.

Georgia used six pitchers in the win, with Justin Byrd earning the save after pitching a scoreless ninth and Grant Edwards receiving the win. Mississippi State tallied six home runs to Georgia’s five, with 15 hits to Georgia’s 16.