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Cowbell Corner

One Inning Unravels Mississippi State in Loss to Georgia

Mississippi State did plenty right, but three errors in one inning allowed Georgia to flip the game in a tough road loss.
Taylor Hodges|
Mississippi State's Abby Grace Richardson celebrates a run scored against Georgia.
Mississippi State's Abby Grace Richardson celebrates a run scored against Georgia. | Mississippi State Athletics

Some losses feel like missed chances. This one felt like Mississippi State handing Georgia the opening and watching the Bulldogs in red take full advantage.

Mississippi State had every reason to feel good through four innings on Friday night. The lineup was putting together quality at-bats, the two‑out hitting was steady, and Peja Goold looked completely in control. A three‑run lead on the road against a top‑15 team is usually a pretty good place to be.

And then the fifth inning happened.

Mississippi State committed three errors, and Georgia turned every one of them into something meaningful. Six runs came across, only one of them earned, and a game Mississippi State had been managing just fine suddenly belonged to someone else.

"I mean, walks and errors – multiple of both in one inning – is never going be a good solution," Mississippi State coach Samantha Ricketts said. "That's just not what our expectations are, and it just continued to snowball and we weren't able to find a way out of the inning with two outs. Against a good team like that, they're going take advantage when you put extra runners on base."

That’s the frustrating part: Mississippi State actually played well in a lot of areas.

The Bulldogs outhit Georgia 12‑3. They stacked seven two‑out singles. They kept pressure on all night and left runners all over the bases because they were constantly creating chances. If you’re looking for signs of a team that wasn’t overmatched, they were everywhere.

Morgan Stiles set the tone at the top of the order with a 3‑for‑4 night and two RBIs. Nadia Barbary, playing back in her home state, added two hits including her 41st career double. Des Rivera came off the bench and immediately doubled, later scoring.

Tatum Silva reached twice and scored. Abby Grace Richardson reached twice and scored. It wasn’t one or two players carrying the offense — it was a lineup that kept showing up.

And Goold deserved better than what her final line shows. She retired the first eight hitters she faced, struck out the side in the third, and finished with seven strikeouts. She allowed six runs, but five of them came after plays that should’ve ended innings or at least limited the damage. She gave Mississippi State a chance to win. The defense just didn’t hold up its end in that one stretch.

That’s really the story of the night: one inning that unraveled everything else.

Mississippi State did enough to win in most categories. The Bulldogs just didn’t do enough in the one that mattered most: protecting the baseball.

Against a ranked SEC opponent on the road, that margin is thin, and Georgia didn’t waste the opening.

The series continues Saturday afternoon, and the opportunity is still there. Mississippi State showed it can create traffic, string together at‑bats, and get quality work in the circle.

Clean up the mistakes, and the Bulldogs give themselves a real shot to even the weekend.

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Taylor Hodges
TAYLOR HODGES

Award-winning sports editor, writer, columnist, and photographer with 15 years’ experience offering his opinion and insight about the sports world in Mississippi and Texas, but he was taken to Razorback pep rallies at Billy Bob's Texas in Fort Worth before he could walk. Taylor has covered all levels of sports, from small high schools in the Mississippi Delta to NFL games. Follow Taylor on Twitter and Facebook.

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