ATHENS, Georgia — For every punch Mississippi State threw, Georgia threw one more.
Mississippi State Pitching ASR
Mississippi State’s pitching could not keep Georgia at bay for the second straight day.
State could not stave off elimination on Sunday afternoon, falling to Georgia 11-9 in 10 innings in Game 2 of the Athens Super Regional.
The win completes a series sweep for Georgia (51-12), and sends it to the College World Series for the first time since 2008.
“We’re not going to walk out of here feeling good about the end and that we accomplished something,” State coach Brian O’Connor said. “We go to work every day to be in a position to win a national championship. That didn’t happen this year, and we’ll get right back to work.”
Much like Game 1, Sunday’s affair was a roller-coaster slugfest. This one was tied at nine after nine, requiring extra innings.
Tre Phelps reached on an error by Ace Reese at third to lead off the top of the 10th, then Daniel Jackson drove him in on a two-run blast to left field. It was Georgia’s fourth home run of the game.
In the bottom half, walks by Bryce Chance and Noah Sullivan brought Jacob Parker to bat as the winning run. The freshman hit two homers earlier in the game.
Facing a 1-2 count, Parker chased high heat from Justin Byrd, ending the game, the series, and Mississippi State’s season.
“I know he hurts because the game ends with his at bat,” O’Connor said of Parker. “But we wouldn’t be where we’re at without him and his teammates’ contributions.”
Mississippi State hit 4 for 18 with runners on base on Sunday compared to Georgia’s 5 for 23.
Between Games 1 and 2, Mississippi State went 13 innings without getting a hit with runners in scoring position. They were 4 for 23 with runners in scoring position throughout the series.
Mississippi State (43-19) trailed by five after the top of the fifth. Starter Ryan McPherson went just 1⅓ innings, which prompted O’Connor to use Duke Stone in long relief, but even he had trouble putting up zeroes.
Georgia scored at least one run in each of the first five innings. The leadoff hitter reached base in each of those frames.
“We couldn’t figure out, pitching wise, what to do to get them out,” O’Connor said. “Today was more of a story of free passes, and then them getting hits or home runs, and giving them a little bit of momentum. Not to take anything away from them, but we just had too many walks today to win this ball game.”
Mississippi State walked eight batters and hit one to go with two errors.
MSU suddenly found life in the sixth. A home run by Vytas Valincius and an RBI single by Chance each brought home a run. Georgia hit yet another solo dinger in the top of the seventh, but in the bottom half, Reese, Sullivan and Parker hit three-straight solo shots to make it a one-run ballgame.
With two outs and one on in the bottom of the eighth, Parker blasted his second round-tripper of the game, which gave State its first lead of the day.
Georgia countered right back in the top of the ninth on a one-out, one-run single by Brennan Hudson that beat the shift on the right side of the infield. MSU could not respond.
Mississippi State ended the year 39-3 against non-top 10 teams and 4-16 against top 10 teams. They never won a series against a top 10 team.
“It’s been a whirlwind, when you take over a job like this and you have to put all the pieces together to build a roster,” O’Connor said. “And I think we built a pretty darn good roster that could compete with anybody in America, and we just fell a little bit short.”
Reese led State with three hits while Parker led with three runs batted in. The freshman hit five home runs in MSU’s five postseason games.
“It was just such a fun group, such a fun year,” Parker said. “There were so many fun moments, and I can’t wait to do that again next year with a new group, and create more memories.”
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