Ninth-ranked Mississippi State defeated fourth-ranked Georgia 19-3 Friday in front of 9,061 at Dudy-Noble Field.

Georgia (33-10, 13-6 SEC) took a 1-0 lead in the first. With one out, sophomore Riley King smashed a ball to centerfield that Jake Mangum raced to the wall and had it go off his glove for a three-base error. Then, junior Aaron Schunk laced a ball down the left field line for a run-scoring double. Bulldog sophomore left-hander C.J. Smith ran into trouble in the second inning and was lifted in the fifth.

MSU (34-9, 11-8 SEC) sent 10 batters to the plate in the second inning, scoring four runs on three hits, four walks and three wild pitches to go up 4-1. Smith struggled with his command and left with the bases loaded and two outs in the fifth. He walked eight on the night after having just 12 walks in 41.1 innings coming into the game. Senior Adam Goodman came in and Jordan Westburg cleared the bases with a three-run double. He would score on a wild pitch to make it 9-1.

Bulldog senior LJ Talley crushed a two-out, solo home run in the sixth inning to give him seven for the year. It was only Georgia’s second hit of the night. MSU responded with a three-run home run from Dustin Skelton in the bottom of the inning for a 12-2 advantage. Georgia turned to James Williams and he finished the frame but not before MSU added two more runs plus three more in the seventh for the final. Freshman Jack Gowen pitched the eighth for the Bulldogs.

MSU left-hander Ethan Small struck out 11 over six innings to improve to 5-1 while Smith dropped to 3-3, allowing eight runs on eight hits in 4.2 innings.

Dawg Tracks

• Junior Aaron Schunk extended his hitting streak to five games with an RBI-double in the first.
• Senior LJ Talley blasted his seventh home run for a career high after hitting six last year.
• Sophomore left-hander C.J. Smith got the game one start after it was announced on Thursday that sophomore ace Emerson Hancock (7-2, 1.04 ERA) would miss his turn in the rotation this series to rest.
•  The Bulldogs entered Friday ranked second in the nation in ERA at 2.71 but surrendered 19 runs on 19 hits with 13 walks and five wild pitches.

 
Coach’s Corner

Ike Cousins Head Baseball Coach Scott Stricklin
On the game…
“We’ve been on the winning end of this type of game, but tonight we were on the other side. We just have to flush it and come back out Saturday and play a lot better. We know the runs don’t carry over, and it’s a three-game series. Mississippi State had a few big innings tonight and ended up scoring in six out of the eight innings.”

Up Next 
Georgia will continue the SEC series against No. 9 MSU Saturday at 1 p.m. ET (SEC Network+).