No. 10 Georgia Takes Down MSU In SEC Home Opener, 8-2
Red And Black Score Three Runs In Fifth, Sixth
STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Georgia (25-3, 4-0 SEC) scored three runs in each of the fifth and sixth innings, then held back a handful of Mississippi State (19-9, 1-3) opportunities to defeat the Bulldogs, 8-2, in the series opener Saturday afternoon at the Mississippi State Softball Field.
Iyhia McMichael (1-for-3) and Jennifer Waterman (1-for-3) each drove in a run to headline the Mississippi State offense, with Krystal Tillman tallying a double and a walk on a 1-for-2 showing at the plate. Shannon McKeon drove in a pair of runs on a 2-for-3 clip for Georgia, while leftfielder Julie Milner scored a run on a 2-for-4 tally that included a pair of doubles.
Mississippi State starter Jennifer Nelson (4-3) allowed eight hits and four earned runs in five innings of work to take the loss for the Maroon and White, with reliever Courtney Frank allowing four unearned runs on three Georgia hits in two innings of work. Michelle Green earned the victory for Georgia, scattering five hits and four walks, while also striking out five. Laurie Davidson allowed just one hit in the seventh to pick up the save for the Red and Black.
Ashley Godfrey's two-out double plated Milner from second base with the 1-0 Georgia lead in the second. Georgia padded their lead in the fifth, utilizing three hits and a walk to plate a trio of runs and take a 4-0 advantage, but MSU responded with a pair of runs in the bottom of the fifth on RBI singles from McMichael and Waterman, respectively. UGA added three more runs in the sixth to build their cushion to 7-2, and a fielding error on a routine pop up in the seventh brought the eighth run across the the visitors.
NO. 10 GEORGIA 8, MISSISSIPPI STATE 2
Georgia 010 033 1 -- 8 11 1Mississippi State 000 020 0 -- 2 6 2
Green, Davidson (7) and McKeon; J. Nelson, Frank (6) and Brown. W -- Green (16-2). L -- J. Nelson (4-3). Save -- Davidson. 2B -- UGA, Milner 2. MSU, Tillman. 3B -- UGA, Green. SF -- UGA, McKeon.