Michael O’Shaughnessy’s belief pays off in Georgia’s Game 1 win

ATHENS — Georgia outlasted Mississippi State 13-12 on Saturday in one of the wildest games of the college baseball season. The game featured 31 hits, 11 combined home runs and 25 runs scored.

But in the midst of all the chaos stood Michael O’Shaughnessy, who finished 2-for-5 on the day but delivered a pair of the biggest home runs for the Bulldogs this season.

His biggest swing of the day came in the eighth inning, trailing 12-10 with two on and one out. Down in the count 0-1, O’Shaughnessy barreled up the 90 mph pitch and sent it flying, immediately knowing he had just delivered.

With a clenched fist, the Davidson transfer watched as his game-winning three-run home run bounced off the scoreboard, sending all of Foley Field and Kudzu Hill into a frenzy.

“It’s awesome,” O’Shaughnessy said after the game. “I have never seen a place explode like that, like it did after my home run, and I looked up and the place was going crazy.”

Earlier in the game, O’Shaughnessy teed off on MSU starting pitcher Tomas Valincius for a two-run homer that was part of seven unanswered runs scored by UGA to tie the game at 7-7 in the fifth.

O’Shaughnessy’s two homers were among five long balls UGA hit on the day, giving the team 170 on the season.

“As hitters, we were like, if we just scrap one run at a time, take it an at bat at a time and just fight every at bat,” O’Shaughnessy said. “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.”

The backup third baseman and designated hitter was making his first start since the SEC Tournament semifinals May 23, only because Tre Phelps was suspended for the super regional opener after being ejected in last week’s regional final.

It is not for a lack of talent that O’Shaughnessy found himself out of the lineup, showing that talent today at the plate and making a few nice plays defensively at third. For the left-handed slugger, it was not fully believing in himself.

At the beginning of the season, O’Shaughnessy bluntly asked UGA coach Wes Johnson, “What do I need to do to be in there every day?”

Johnson told him straight up: “I’m going to need to see you believe in yourself.”

Throughout the season, O’Shaughnessy has used that message as fuel to instill more belief in his play and how he conducts himself every day.

“I mean, just his mindset, his ability to show up every day and continue to get better, no matter what the circumstances are,” Johnson said. “I’m proud of Michael about just the way he’s really grown and believing in himself and believing he’s going to carry us.”

Since climbing out of an 0-for-10 slump, O’Shaughnessy is 3-for-6, all via the home run, giving him 20 home runs on the year.

The high-scoring victory means Georgia is one win away from heading back to Omaha and the College World Series for the first time in 18 seasons. The team knows what’s at stake Sunday and wants to go out and continue playing its best brand of baseball.