The game hinged on his 11th home run.
In a thrilling super-district match of the NCAA Baseball Tournament, Georgia State edged past rival Mississippi State with a score of 13-12. They rallied from behind, at one point being down by two runs, and managed to create a seven-point lead by scoring nine consecutive points.
These two teams will face off again on Sunday at noon in a best-of-three series.
Michael O’Shaughnessy, stepping in for his suspended teammate Tre Phillips at third, sent his second home run of the game over the right-field scoreboard in the bottom of the eighth, bringing in two runners and turning a 12-10 deficit into a lead.
This season, Georgia has dominated Mississippi State, winning three straight SEC series in April and also competing in the SEC Tournament.
Mississippi State initially surged ahead with two home runs in the fourth inning, taking a commanding 7-0 lead. Yet, Georgia wasn’t deterred; they answered with five runs in the bottom of the fourth. O’Shaughnessy’s first homer of the day tied it up at 7-7, and they followed this with two additional runs by the end of the fifth.
Ryder Woodson’s home run tied the score again at 10-10 in the seventh. Just when it seemed Mississippi State might pull a comeback with ace Reese’s pivotal shot in the eighth, their hopes rose further when a hit by pitch with the bases loaded brought the score to 12-10.
However, in this slugfest, no lead felt secure.
Georgia, having won 18 of their last 19 games, needs just one more victory to advance to the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska, for the first time since 2008, while Mississippi State will be looking for two wins.
Both teams contributed to a total of three-run home runs, but interestingly, eight out of eleven homers were solo hits.
The game concluded with Mississippi State in a position to tie, but the opportunity slipped away.
