Georgia baseball ready for another 'big atmosphere' at Mississippi State

One of the biggest college series of the season so far is here.

A top five matchup between Georgia baseball and Mississippi State starts Thursday night, April 2, in Starkville, Miss.

The teams are tied with Texas for first in the SEC at 7-2.

The showdown will come in one of the best settings in the nation, Dudy Noble Field, where Mississippi State has won 20 straight dating back to last season.

The Bulldogs that wear maroon boast the nation’s top home attendance at 11,521 per game and drew 14,834 on March 21 against Vanderbilt.

“You’ve just got to go play good baseball, man,” Georgia coach Wes Johnson said. “It’s going to be tough. You think about it, I’ve told everybody we’ve got the toughest road schedule in our league.”

Georgia is No. 5 in the USA TODAY coaches poll. Mississippi State is No. 4.

Coach Brian O’Connor has Mississippi State 25-4 overall in his first season. He came from Virginia where he went to seven College World Series and won the national title in 2015.

Tickets, other than standing room only, on SeatGeek are starting at $74 for Thursday’s 7 p.m. ET game, $107 for Friday’s 7p.m. game and $84 for Saturday’s 2 p.m. game. All games are on SEC Network+.

“It’s kind of hard to ignore the atmosphere, the environment,” catcher Daniel Jackson said. “I think it’s fun to be a part of anyway. You get the chance to make the stadium go quiet when we’re doing good. Makes it fun.”

Georgia (24-6) took two of three March 20-22 at Texas A&M — now No. 20—which averages 7,035 fans.

“They have bubble machines or whatever whenever they score a run,” Jackson said. “We didn’t see too much of the first two days. A lot of bubbles unfortunately on Sunday.”

The toughest place for junior third baseman Tre Phelps to play in the SEC?

He says Missouri, where the biggest crowd was 1,794 in three games against Georgia last year.

“It was harder to get up,” Phelps said. “The bigger atmospheres are a lot easier to play in. It’s just about who’s going to focus longer. There’s no reason that you shouldn’t be able to get up in front of 10,000 fans, in front of 15,000 fans. I think the harder ones to win and perform as an individual and as a team are the ones where it feels like an intrasquad on the road.”

Jackson said Texas was the toughest environment he’s seen in the SEC.

Georgia was 8-1 in the SEC heading to Texas on April 4 last season before it was swept in Austin.

Mississippi State leads the SEC in fewest hits allowed per nine innings (6.75) and batting average (.336). Outfielder Bryce Chance, who bats in the No. 9 hole, leads the SEC in hitting at .430.

Georgia leads the SEC with 84 homers, 24 more than the next closest teams Vanderbilt and Pittsburgh.

The Bulldogs’ remaining SEC road series are at No. 16 Arkansas, unranked Ole Miss and No. 11 Auburn.

“We better be used to it,” Johnson said. “We better be ready to go.”

This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Georgia baseball on road for top 5 SEC showdown with Mississippi State