Hitting

Mississippi State only managed to get three hits off of Georgia's All-American righty Jonathan Cannon, but the offense exploded for 31 combined runs in the final two games. It was a rough day at the plate, but Cannon is arguably the best starting pitcher in the conference, with a 1.83 ERA.

One of the biggest questions the Bulldogs have had this season seems to have an answer, as UAB transfer Jess Davis has emerged as the leadoff hitter. The speedy centerfielder reached base safely in 6 of his 16 plate appearances, good for an on-base percentage of .375.

Bulldog 2nd baseman R.J. Yeager has also started to heat up after a slow start to the year. The Mercer transfer entered the series, batting just .238 but raised that number over the weekend to .286 after going 6-14 at the plate. Yeager also drove in nine runs, including a game-tying grand slam on Saturday and another 3-run Yeager Bomb on Sunday.

The Bulldogs were able to get production throughout the whole lineup on Saturday and Sunday, getting home runs from Hunter Hines, Kellum Clark, and two from Brad Cumbest. Kamren James had five hits, while Luke Hancock had four, including two doubles, and while Logan Tanner managed just one hit, he reached base six times as he drew five walks.

Starting Pitching

Mississippi State got solid performances from Preston Johnson on Friday and Cade Smith on Sunday. Johnson allowed just five hits and struck out ten Georgia hitters, but a pair of home runs got him to three earned runs. When the offense produces as it did in game 2 or 3, Johnson would have walks with a win, but it wasn't enough as he went head-to-head against All-American Jonathan Cannon.

In Cade Smith's first career SEC start, he got bit around early on, giving up six hits, two walks, and three runs in the first three innings, but the sophomore from Southaven didn't let the rough start get to him. After allowing singles to the first two hitters of the fourth inning, he settled in as he retired the next nine Georgia batters.

One word to describe Parker Stinnett's start on Saturday would be "weird." Stinnett pitched 3.2 innings and allowed four runs, but he didn't get any help from his defense. A missed 2-out pop up in foul territory by Kamren James during the third inning kept Georgia catcher Corey Collin's at-bat alive, and he took advantage knocking in an RBI single. Another crucial error occurred in the fourth inning, as Luke Hancock made a mad throw when trying to turn a double play. Despite the errors, Stinnett didn't help his case, by walking eight batters, and striking out two. It was just an overall sloppy day for the Bulldogs on Saturday,

Bullpen

The bullpen got off to a rough start on Friday as sophomore Mikey Tepper came in for the eighth inning and immediately gave up a single and three consecutive walks. Freshman Cole Cheatham came in for mop-up duty, and after three hits, two fielder's choices, and a walk, Georgia had put up seven runs in the inning.

On Saturday, freshman Pico Kohn came in when Parker Stinnett left the bases loaded, and Georgia beat the shift with a single through the left side. Kohn was able to get out of it and shut them down in the fifth. Like Stinnett, Kohn didn't get any help from his defense in the sixth as what should have been a sure-fire double play resulted in an error by Lane Forsythe, which rattled the freshman and forced him to allow a hit and and 2 weeks. Despite struggling a bit after his defense blew up, Kohn continues to be one of the Bulldogs top bullpen arms.

State got three solid innings out of Brandon Smith on Saturday. He came in with a few runners on base left by Kohn, and the defensive struggles continued as Brad Cumbest couldn't track down a fly ball which led to three Georgia runs. Smith settled in and allowed just one run over the next two innings, but may have been left in for a bit too long. In a tie ballgame, he surrendered a leadoff single and then a sac bunt in the bottom of the ninth, which put a runner in scoring position for Georgia to walk it off.

Cam Tullar came in and immediately surrendered a walk, and after a pass ball, he was forced to intentionally walk his next batter to set up a force out at all bases.

In a tough situation with the bases loaded and one out, Jackson Fristoe came in and surrendered the game winning hit, but he bounced back the next day with a 1-2-3 ninth inning in Sunday's win. State also got a hitless two innings out of Brooks Auger on Sunday, look for him to be a guy to have some opportunities in some higher leverage situations going forward.