After dropping a 11-inning heartbreaker Friday night to Ole Miss, head coach Scott Stricklin was not sure how his team would respond for Saturday’s finale.

Considering the defeat put a major crimp in the Bulldogs’ postseason plans, his feelings were certainly understandable.

He should not have been concerned. Georgia combined a strong performance by pitcher Jonathan Cannon and a robust offense to roll past the Rebels 13-2 in the final home game this year.

“I didn’t sleep at all; I maybe slept about two hours, staring at the ceiling,” Stricklin said. “I think if you'd been betting money on this one, you'd have bet against the Dawgs, but this team has proven that it’s a tough team and can bounce back.”

But can Georgia (30-23, 13-17) still find a way to sneak into the NCAA Tournament?

The Bulldogs will play in the single-elimination portion of the SEC tournament Tuesday afternoon as the eighth seed against ninth-seed LSU. Win that, and Georgia will move on to double-elimination play starting Wednesday, which no doubt must happen for the Bulldogs to harbor any further post-season thoughts.

“There’s no doubt the SEC is the toughest conference in the country,” Stricklin said. “You’ve got to take eight, maybe even nine teams. I think the game Tuesday is essentially a play-in game. It’s single elimination. Both teams will have the same record. The winner is going to get to 14 wins, and I think that gets you in.”

Give Cannon a lot of credit. The Bulldogs played the game knowing they wouldn't have their top two relievers, Jaden Woods and Ben Harris, available, and needed Cannon to go out and throw one of his better games this year.

That’s exactly what he did.

The sophomore right-hander went seven innings, allowing just four hits with no walks and eight strikeouts.

“Last night was a tough loss, and this was a must win,” Cannon said. “But I knew if I came out and did my thing, and just kind of ride some momentum from last week, I’d be just fine. The offense gave me some run support, and that allowed me to settle in and do my thing.”

Offensively, the Bulldogs took out their recent hitting woes in a big way. Georgia pounded out 17 hits, with every starter except catcher Shane Marshall coming through with at least one.

In fact, seven different Bulldogs collected two hits or more, including both Josh McAllister and Corey Collins with three hits apiece. McAllister drove in three and Collins two, with Garrett Blaylock going 2-for-4 with a homer and four RBIs.

“There’s a lot of fight in us. After losing the first two games, it would have been very easy for us to roll out here and say, whatever, we’re going to get swept,” Blaylock said. “But we had a good approach at the plate. (Cannon) threw it well and we responded.”

No. 11 Ole Miss (38-17, 18-12) opened the scoring in the first with a single run before the Bulldogs answered with two in the inning’s bottom half. An RBI double by Collins and a run-scoring single by Blaylock accounted for the damage.

A solo home run by Ole Miss' Peyton Chatagnier in the second tied the game in the second, a score that stayed that way until Riley King’s two-run single in the third put the Bulldogs up by two.

The Bulldogs gave Cannon some cushion in the fourth, scoring four times—three on Blaylock’s ninth home run—for an 8-2 lead.

Georgia scored two runs in both the sixth and the seventh before adding a single run in the eighth on McAllister’s third RBI.

Stricklin hopes that offensive momentum carries over to Tuesday’s game against the Tigers.

“Baseball can be a game of momentum; that’s the biggest thing,” he said. “We’ve got a little bit of momentum; we swung the bats really well today and had a lot of great at-bats. We got some big hits. Riley King got the big hit, to put us up 4-2, and that kind of softened it, allowing us to get into their bullpen.”

NOTE: One of the nice moments of the game came in the seventh inning, when senior catcher Mason Meadows pinch-hit for Parks Harber with two outs. Meadows, who fouled a ball off his face two years ago, had limited action since, and came into play Sunday having only seen action in five games with six at-bats. Nevertheless, Meadows has remained one of the team’s most respected players, and received a nice ovation by his teammates and the crowd at Foley Field before striking out. … Stricklin said that leading hitter Connor Tate (lower leg) will not be able to play in the SEC Tourney. … Freshmen Luke Wagner and Jaden Woods are expected to piggyback as pitchers in Tuesday’s game.