Mississippi State Blasted by Georgia in Opening Game of SEC Play

Mississippi State fell behind early and couldn't keep up as the Bulldogs were crushed by Georgia 11-0 on the opening night of conference play.

Preston Johnson had an outstanding outing but wasn't supported by his offense or most of his relief pitchers. Through six innings pitched, he gave up only four runs on five hits and struck out 10. One of the runs scored during his time on the mound came as a result of an error on third baseman Kamren James. Jess Davis, Logan Tanner and RJ Yeager each had one hit on the night.

It was apparent that the game would be a pitchers' duel from the start. Neither Johnson nor UGA pitcher Jonathan Cannon allowed a runner to reach base in the first inning of action-- in fact, Johnson recorded three consecutive strikeouts to start the game.

Georgia struck first thanks to a home run in the bottom of the second inning to make the score 1-0 and was able to continue that momentum in the third. James tried to make a difficult play at first to start the bottom of the inning but was ultimately a tad too late, giving UGA a baserunner early. James committed his first error of the evening with two outs on an off-target throw to first base that allowed the runner to score and gave the home team a 2-0 advantage.

Things remained relatively quiet for both teams until the top of the fifth inning when Tanner got Mississippi State's first hit of the night on a double to right field. He advanced to third on a fielder's choice, but none of his teammates were able to bring him home. A two-run homer in the bottom of the inning pushed Georgia's lead to 4-0.

Although Davis was able to get a two-out hit in the sixth inning, the Diamond Dawgs left him stranded yet again. Johnson had arguably his best performance of the night in the bottom of the inning: after allowing runners to reach second and third with no outs, he struck out each of the next three batters he faced to escape the inning unscathed.

After another unproductive half-inning for the MSU offense, Cam Tullar came in as a relief pitcher. He struggled at some points early in the season but showed promise with two strikeouts and a groundout to keep the score 4-0.

The floodgates opened in the eighth inning. Mississippi State put two on base with one out as Kellum Clark was hit by a pitch and Yeager singled into center field. They couldn't make it back home to put a crooked number on the scoreboard, and that's when Mikey Tepper was brought in to pitch for the visiting squad.

Tepper gave up a single and walked three batters in a row to score a run. Looking to stop the damage at 5-0, Cole Cheatham was brought into the game, but it might have been too difficult of a situation to throw the young pitcher into. He gave up four hits and recorded a balk before getting out of the inning. James also had his second error of the night to keep runs scoring. By the time Cheatham walked off the mound, Georgia had added another six runs. With an 11-0 deficit, the Diamond Dawgs were too far behind to catch up, and Georgia claimed the victory in the first game of the series.

Mississippi State has the opportunity to avenge tonight's loss tomorrow afternoon in Athens. First pitch is set for 1 p.m. CT.