No. 23 Mississippi State baseball crushes No. 20 Georgia 20-3 in series finale

ATHENS, Ga. — The No. 23 Mississippi State baseball team avoided being swept with a dominating 20-3 win over No. 20 Georgia on Sunday at Foley Field.

MSU (12-9, 1-2 SEC) scored one run in the second inning, four in the fourth, one in the fifth, eight in the sixth, one in the seventh and five in the eighth. Georgia (16-4, 2-1 SEC) scored two runs in the second inning and one in the third.

Senior Brad Cumbest recorded four hits, three RBIs and three runs for MSU, while junior Kamren James finished with four hits, two runs and one RBI. Graduate student RJ Yeager accounted for five RBIs and two runs on a 3-for-6 day at the plate and graduate student Jess Davis added three RBIs and one run on a 2-for-5 day.

Georgia was led by senior Cory Acton with two hits and two RBIs, while graduate student Chaney Rogers was 2-for-4 with one RBI and one run.

Sophomore Cade Smith (4-0) earned the win for MSU after allowing three runs on eight hits in six innings of work. He fanned five batters and walked two. Sophomore Brooks Auger then tossed two scoreless innings with two strikeouts and one walk. Sophomore Jackson Fristoe was the final pitcher used by MSU as he struck out three batters faced in the ninth inning.

Redshirt sophomore Garrett Brown started for the home Bulldogs and allowed three runs (one earned) on two hits with three strikeouts and two walks. Sophomore Will Pearson (0-1) then allowed two runs and three hits without recording an out. In total, Georgia used eight pitchers on the day.

After a scoreless first inning, MSU struck first to take a 1-0 lead in the top of the second inning. Junior Logan Tanner was walked and advanced to second on a wild pitch. A flyout moved him over to third before he scored on sophomore Kellum Clark’s RBI groundout.

In the bottom half of the second, Georgia took a 2-1 lead. Rogers led off with a double to center field and advanced to third on a flyout. Sophomore Fernando Gonzalez then drew a walk and Acton followed with a two-RBI double.

Georgia added to its lead in the bottom of the third, plating one run. Graduate student Connor Tate hit a one-out single and sophomore Parks Harber followed with a walk. Rogers then singled through the left side to score a run and give Georgia a 3-1 lead.

In the top of the fourth, MSU rallied to score four runs. After a groundout, Tanner reached on a fielding error and freshman Hunter Hines drew a walk. A strikeout followed before Cumbest singled to load the bases and Yeager followed with a two-RBI single to left field. Two more runners scored when senior Tanner Leggett hit a double to give MSU a 5-3 lead.

In the top of the sixth, MSU scored eight runs on a grand slam by Hines, a three-RBI double by Davis and an RBI single by James to a take a 14-3 lead. A home run by Cumbest in the top of the seventh inning made it a 15-3 ballgame.

The Maroon and White tacked on five more runs in the top of the eighth inning to go ahead 20-3. James hit a leadoff single to center field and senior Luke Hancock and Hines drew walks to load the bases. Clark was hit by a pitch to score one run before Hancock scored on a sacrifice fly. Yeager then hit a three-run home run to left field to end the game’s scoring.

MSU will return to action Tuesday when it hosts Southern at 6 p.m. CT at Dudy Noble Field. The game will air on SEC Network+.