With a spot in the 2026 Southeastern Conference Semifinals on the line, Mississippi State and Georgia would meet for the 4th time this season, with the Georgia Bulldogs looking to complete the season sweep after taking all three games in Starkville earlier in the season. Coming into the matchup on Thursday, both teams have already locked down hosting next weekend, as Georgia will likely be a top-eight national seed and Mississippi State needs another win or two to do so. Today’s game was more about bragging rights and continuing the Southeastern Conference Tournament journey until at least Saturday. Not to mention, this tournament means two different things to both Mississippi State and Georgia. For Georgia, it’s a chance to win its first-ever SEC Tournament Championship and to continue the mometum from the regular season; for Mississippi State, it’s a redemption tour as the Bulldogs look to continue to build Mississippi State baseball back into the brand that wins and competes for championships and plays meaningful baseball deep into the month of May. 

Starting on the mound today for Mississippi State was Duke Stone, while Georgia went with Joey Volchko. Both guys were likely on a pitch count today, trying to get some action without risking injury before the Regional. Mississippi State would be the first to go to the bullpen as Duke Stone delivered 3.1 innings, with six hits, four earned runs, and only four strikeouts, not the best of outings for Stone, but the Bulldogs managed to keep things close as Jack Bauer came for a long relief stint for Mississippi State. Volchko delivered a jewel of an outing today as he gave Georgia five complete innings, giving up seven hits and only two earned runs, with just a single strikeout. Matt Scott would be his replacement, giving Georgia four complete innings, giving up two hits, one run, striking out three, all the while earning his 5th save of the season. 

When your pitchers give up nine hits, but you hold a team like Mississippi State to just three runs, it’s not only the pitching, but it’s more the defense than anything. Georgia made the plays that mattered today, and as Coach Johnson said in the postgame press conference, “ His guys just love to play baseball.” Doing the small things right in baseball often leads to success and wins. 

Georgia opened the lead early with a sac fly from Kolby Branch that scored Kenny Ishikawa to take the early 1-0 lead over Mississippi State. Brennan Hudson would add a three-run shot in the bottom half of the 4th inning to extend the lead over Mississippi State to 4-1. Georgia would add another in the bottom of the 7th, before a Noah Sullivan solo shot in the top of the 9th would make it interesting as Mississippi State cut it to 5-3, then Georgia shut the door and earned a trip back to the SEC Tournament Semifinals. 

At the end of the day, Georgia did the small things right, which led to the Bulldogs securing another Southeastern Conference win as they now await the winner of Alabama and Florida. On the other side of this is a Mississippi State team that should, without question, host a Starkville Regional next weekend.