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SB: Georgia Earns Comeback Win Over Mississippi State

The No.13 Georgia Bulldogs staged an impressive comeback effort to defeat the visiting No.12 Mississippi State Bulldogs by recording a six-run fifth inning on the way to a 6-3 win on Friday night at the Jack Turner Stadium. Georgia moves to 22-7 (2-2) on the year, and Mississippi State slides to 28-5 (1-3).

SOFTBALL | vs. No. 12 Mississippi State | W, 6-3
Winning Pitcher: Ada Little (3-1)
Losing Pitcher: Peja Goold (11-3)
Save: Addisen Fisher (1)

Fast Facts:

• LHP Randi Roelling made the start in the circle, going 2.0 innings with five hits and two earned runs. Destin Howard, Ada Little and Addisen Fisher pitched in relief. Howard pitched the third inning with two hits and one earned run, and Little, earning the win, pitched two scoreless innings with a strikeout. Fisher closed the game in the final two innings, surrendering three hits and no earned runs.
• Mississippi State jumped on the board in the second inning with an RBI single to center before tacking on another with an RBI single to left. The visiting Bulldogs scored a third run off an RBI single up the middle in the fourth inning.
• Emily Digby hit a sac fly to center field in the fifth inning to get Georgia on the board. Moments later, a fielding error by the State’s third baseman allowed another Georgia runner to score. 
• Trailing 3-2, Jaydyn Goodwin and Sarah Gordon powered the Bulldogs to the eventual win to close the six-run fifth inning. Goodwin hit a two-RBI triple in the first inning, and in the next at-bat, Gordon blasted a two-run homer to left field to extend the Bulldog lead to three.
• With this victory, Georgia now leads the all-time series vs. Mississippi State 36-32. 

Key Quote:
Georgia Head Coach Tony Baldwin
On the win…
“Just really proud of the resilience that the team showed. We talked about this being a seven-inning game, and their pitcher is really, really good. We could prepare for it. and we can watch video, but it’s not the same as being in the box against her. I thought we just took in a lot of data early and just stayed in the fight. We got a couple of breaks, but I also thought we had a lot of really good at bats. I’m also super proud of the way Destin came in and held us there. Ada came in and held us there. Then, Addi [Fisher] to go in and shut it down. It was a complete team effort and a great team win. It’s one point. and now we’ve got to recover and go fight like heck again tomorrow.”

#2 Jaydyn Goodwin | Sr. | OF
On her mindset during tonight’s game…
“Just exciting. I feel like that was a thriller. I think we stayed in it the whole time. Started a little slow, but just keeping our heads up and keep pushing. Like Coach Tony said, we took in data every at-bat, every pitch, and just used it for our advantage. Just staying calm. I knew if I wasn’t going to do it, someone behind me was going to do it. So, going in, knowing that, and having faith in my team just kept me relaxed and trusting the process and my work I put in. Just not overdoing it, just letting it happen.”

Up Next:
No. 13 Georgia and No. 12 Mississippi State will meet again tomorrow afternoon for game two of the series at 2:00 p.m. ET on the SEC Network+. Tomorrow is also Alumni Day at Jack Turner Stadium, and legendary head coach Lu Harris-Champer will return to be honored and throw out the ceremonial first pitch pregame. 

GYM: Five Seed UGA To Open SEC Conference Gymnastics Championships

Date: Saturday, March 21
Start Time: 3:00 p.m. ET (Session I)
Location: Tulsa, Okla.
Arena: BOK Center

Media Information
TV: SEC Network
   Play-by-play: John Roethlisberger
   Analyst: Samantha Peszek, Aly Raisman
   Reporter: Taylor Davis
Streaming: ESPN app
Live Stats:GeorgiaDogs.com
Twitter/X:@UGAGymnastics

The Warm-Up Period
Nationally ranked No. 6 Georgia Gymnastics will hold the 5 seed in Saturday’s Southeastern Conference Gymnastics Championships held at the BOK Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

The GymDogs will face (6) Arkansas, (7) Missouri, (8) Auburn, and (9) Kentucky in the first session of the SEC Championships, beginning at 3 p.m. ET. Seeding for the SEC Championships is based on final regular-season Team National Qualifying Scores (NQS). The championships consist of a one-day team and all-around competition which includes all nine teams. Georgia will begin the meet on a rotation bye before opening on bars in the second rotation.

Follow the Bulldogs
– The SEC Gymnastics Championship will air live on SEC Network. John Roethlisberger, Samantha Peszek, and Aly Raisman will be on the call with Taylor Davis reporting.
– Saturday’s meet can be streamed live on ESPN.com and the ESPN app.
– Live results links, provided by Virtius, can be found on the gymnastics schedule on GeorgiaDogs.com.
– Twitter/X updates will be available all season long on the official page of the Bulldogs, @UGAgymnastics.

BULLDOGS BULLETIN
A Look at What’s Ahead
Georgia will await its seeding and placement in the 2026 NCAA Gymnastics Championship. Four regionals consisting of nine teams will be conducted at predetermined campus sites. The first round will consist of two teams, second round will consist of eight teams, and the regional final will consist of four teams. The predetermined sites for the 2026 championship are Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Corvallis, Oregon, Lexington, Kentucky, and Tempe, Arizona. The top two teams each regional will receive an automatic berth to the national championships in Fort Worth, Texas.

Series Histories
Arkansas
– Georgia leads the all-time series 38-13-1; the GymDogs are 21-6-1 at a neutral site in the series.
– The Razorbacks beat Georgia in Fayetteville on Feb. 6, 197.050-197.450.
– Georgia is 16-4 against Arkansas in the head-to-head at the SEC Championship
Missouri
– Georgia leads the all-time series 24-13; Georgia is 13-6 against Missouri at a neutral site.
– Since Missouri joined the league in 2012, Georgia has gone 18-12 against the Tigers.
– The GymDogs snapped an 11-meet losing streak to the Tigers at home on March 6 with a 197.600-197.300 win over the Tigers.
– Georgia is 7-3 against Missouri in the head-to-head at the SEC Championship
Auburn
– Georgia leads the all-time series 86-17-1. Georgia is 38-7-1 against Auburn at a neutral site.
– The GymDogs defeated Auburn in Athens on Feb. 1, 197.550-196.050, and again at Elevate the Stage in Huntsville on March 8, 198.075-197.200.
– Georgia is 36-5-1 against Auburn in the head-to-head at the SEC Championship
Kentucky
– Georgia leads series against Kentucky, 92-6-1; the GymDogs are 44-4 in the series at a neutral site.
– Georgia beat the Wildcats in the regular season in Lexington, 197.275-197.025, on Feb. 27.
– Georgia is 38-3 against Kentucky in the head-to-head at the SEC Championship

SEC Championship at a Glace
– Georgia has won the most SEC Championships in league history with 16, most recently in 2008 in Duluth, Georgia
– Georgia has 17 all-around champions, 22 vault champions, 28 bars champions, 17 beam champions, and 17 floor champions
– Georgia holds SEC Championship team event records on vault (1997, 49.800) and floor (2004, 49.725)
– Georgia’s complete SEC Championship history begins on page 38 of the notes packet

BSB: Dawgs Down TAMU

COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS. – The sixth-ranked Georgia Bulldogs used a 15-hit attack, including three home runs, to hand No. 21 Texas A&M its first home loss Friday, beating the Aggies 9-4 in front of 7,870 at Blue Bell Park.

Fast Facts

• Junior Justin Byrd (1-1) provided 4.1 scoreless innings of relief after coming in for starter Joey Volchko in the second inning. Byrd allowed just two hits, a walk and struck out four to earn a win.
• Sophomore Henry Allen gave the Bulldogs a 3-0 lead with a two-out, three-run blast in the first inning. It was his eighth home run of the year. Ryan Black and Tre Phelps were on base after back-to-back singles to start the contest.
• Georgia (18-4, 3-1 SEC) went up 4-0 in the second on a two-out, run-scoring single by Phelps.
• After the Aggies cut it to 4-2 in the second, Michael O’Shaughnessy put Georgia in front 5-2 when he led off the third inning with his sixth home run of the season.
• With two outs in the seventh, freshman Cole Johnson delivered a two-run single to make it 7-2.
• With a single to lead off the fifth inning, junior Daniel Jackson extended his hitting streak to 20 games.
• For the second time this season, Jordy Oriach smashed a pinch-hit home run, smacking a two-run shot in the top of the ninth for a 9-2 advantage.
• Graduate Caden Aoki provided 2.0 scoreless innings, freshman Joe Nottingham made his SEC debut, and Grant Edwards got the final two outs.
• Coming in Friday, the Aggies were 14-0 at home this season.

Key Quotes

Ike Cousins Head Baseball Coach Wes Johnson

On Georgia getting a win in its first SEC road game…

“Justin Byrd came on in relief of Joey (Volchko) and was really good. It helped in the first that Henry got on that ball and hit it off the scoreboard to give us a 3-0 lead. Jordy Oriach and Michael O’Shaughnessy hit home runs too. You look all around, and it takes a lot of guys to contribute to win Friday night in this league. We knew it was going to be a grind. Their crowd was loud, and I thought our guys were focused and had some good at bats. Caden followed Justin out of the bullpen and was good and then we got Joe (Nottingham) out there and Grant Edwards closed it out for us.”

 Justin Byrd | RHP | Jr. 

On a Friday night win in the SEC…

“This is what the SEC is, and it was cool coming in in this environment and guys chanting my name. I didn’t really listen to it. My job is to come in and fill up the zone. Hopefully, we can carry this over for the rest of the weekend. We didn’t come here just to win one. The bullpen needs to come out and pitch with confidence and attack their hitters.” 

Up Next

Georgia (19-4, 3-1 SEC) continues the SEC series against the Aggies (17-4, 1-3 SEC) on Saturday with first pitch set for 3 pm ET. The game will be available to stream on SEC Network+ and the Georgia Bulldogs Sports Network.

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