STARKVILLE, MISS.—–Tenth-ranked Mississippi State used a seven-run outburst to defeat Georgia 9-2 Thursday in front of a crowd of 6,895 at Polk-Dement Stadium.
 
 
MSU junior right-hander Dakota Hudson and Georgia freshman left-hander Kevin Smith were cruising through the first three frames in a 1-1 contest. However with one out in the fourth, Reid Humphreys (3-for-5, 2 home runs) provided the go-ahead solo home run. It started a string of seven straight hits that saw State build an 8-1 advantage. Coming into the series, Smith had a 1.93 ERA and a 3-0 mark, but wound up surrendering eight runs on 10 hits in 3.2 innings for his first loss.
 
 
Hudson (3-1) cruised for seven innings, allowing one unearned run on eight hits with a walk and five strikeouts before turning it over to the bullpen. State improved to 16-6-1 overall, 3-1 in the SEC while Georgia dropped its fourth straight to fall to 14-9 (1-3 SEC).
 
 

 
 
“The big inning was a killer, and Kevin was one pitch away from getting out of it,” Georgia’s Ike Cousins head baseball coach Scott Stricklin said. “He was ahead of Humpreys 0-2 and hung a slider and then he got ahead of the next hitter too, and we couldn’t get out of the inning and next thing you know it’s 8-1. I told the team that it was disappointing that we got beat in one inning. Still, we managed to get eight hits off their ace, although he made some good pitches when we got runners in scoring position. We’ve got our ace going Friday in Robert Tyler, and we’re looking forward to a good start from him.”
 
 
Bulldog freshman Addison Albright provided solid relief in his SEC debut, going a career-high 4.1 innings and allowing just a solo home run with two strikeouts. Georgia junior designated hitter Trevor Kieboom provided a two-out, game-tying single in the fourth. In the eighth, Bulldog sophomore Trey Logan came through with a pinch-hit RBI-double to make it 9-2. Sophomore left fielder Keegan McGovern saw his six-game hitting streak end after going 0-for-3 with a walk. Freshman second baseman LJ Talley notched a two-out double in the sixth inning to extend his hitting streak to three games.
 
 
“Addison Albright did a great job for us,” Stricklin added. “He really saved our bullpen especially after the quick turnaround for this series after having a staff night on Tuesday. We were expecting to get a couple of innings from him, and he gave us 4.1. He kept our bullpen fresh for the rest of the series and that’s great to see.”