‘I Gave Up, You Did, Too!’ Furious Rally Has Dawgs One Win From Omaha

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Jun 6, 2026; Athens, GA, USA; Georgia Bulldogs infielder Rylan Lujo (8) reacts after hitting a home run against the Mississippi State Bulldogs at Foley Field. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-Imagn Images | Dale Zanine-Imagn Images

After all that, the obvious question is this.

What can the Diamond Dawgs do for an encore?

For a few innings of a chamber of commerce late-morning and into the afternoon at Foley Field, it looked like the old demons of Super Regionals had once again returned to Athens. Sour memories of two years ago against NC State and for hard-core UGA baseball fans, the opening game in 2006 against South Carolina rose to the surface.

But, as Larry Munson would say, “I gave up! You did, too!”

Yes, Georgia was down, but it was hardly out. The Dawgs rallied all the way back to lead Mississippi State in the sixth inning, trailed in the eighth before a heavy dose of poetic justice came in the form of Michael O’Shaugnessy, playing in place of Tre Phelps, ripping a go-ahead three-run homer in the eighth, winning 13-12.

“As hitters, we knew if we just scrap one run at a time and take it every at-bat at a time, fight and make adjustments pitch to pitch, we knew we were going to stay in that game and have a chance all day,” O’Shaughnessy said.

O'SHAUGHNESSYYYYYYY GO AHEAD NUKEEEE

GEORGIA LEADDSSSS. FOLEY FIELD IS A ZOOOOO pic.twitter.com/SI0ZH4Znhp

— 11Point7 College Baseball (@11point7) June 6, 2026

That’s when Georgia’s Justin Byrd came along to do what had been a struggle most of the day, quiet the MSU bats that scored at least a run in five of Saturday’s eight innings, including six homers.

But Byrd slammed the door, getting Georgia one win from a trip to Omaha and the College World Series.

GEORGIA WINS A SLUGFEST TO TAKE GAME 1 @BaseballUGApic.twitter.com/46FQxyXkdd

— SEC Network (@SECNetwork) June 6, 2026

The challenge is now simple for the Diamond Dawgs. Find a way to win one game over the next two games against a Maroon Bulldogs team that is very, very worthy of Omaha. If Georgia wins this Super Regional, Saturday’s instant classic will be placed alongside canonized moments in Foley Field history alongside Jeff Keppinger’s regional heroics, the 2008 coronation on the way to Omaha against NC State, Will Startup’s ice-cold veins against Clemson, and David Perno deciding that a bucket of baseballs needed to make their way toward the playing field during a postseason game.

If not, it’ll be just a fun sidenote. “Yeah, that first game of the series was amazing, but…”

But if you want to see a nutshell of why this team is special, Saturday summed it all up. Between a six-run second inning and one more run in the top of the fourth, MSU led 7-0. It was easy then to think that the goal was to chalk this up as a loss and hope starting pitcher Joey Volchko could eat a lot of innings and save the bullpen for the rest of the series. But Georgia didn’t fold, it did not implode or melt down. Rather, much like in the SEC Tournament against Florida, it kept chopping.

“We can stand up here for a long time and go back through a lot of plays. I want to tip my hat to Joey,” Georgia head coach Wes Johnson said. “He just went out there and continued to compete after having a tough inning. I thought that was huge for us.”

After trailing 7-0, Georgia takes its first lead of the game pic.twitter.com/VE7V9g2f2m

— ESPN (@espn) June 6, 2026

The Dawgs’ answer in the game’s middle frames? A five-run fourth and four-run fifth to lead 9-7. But this day was hardly one with ease. After a pair of runs in the top of the sixth tied it at 9-9, Georgia went back out front 10-9 thanks to a Rylan Lujo homer. The Bulldogs’ answer to solo homers by State and a two-run shot in the seventh and eighth to lead 12-10? O’Shaughnessy’s blast.

Now, the job for Georgia is simple. Win one more, and it’s on to the College World Series for the first time since 2008.


Go Dawgs!

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