On the back of sophomore Aaron Nola’s third-straight complete game victory Friday, the No. 2 LSU baseball team carried a swagger with it as it had all season – ready to pounce on a vulnerable No. 15 South Carolina ball club that has mostly been an enigma throughout Southeastern Conference play.

Between then and now, the swagger was lost in the fold as the Tigers (39-6, 16-5 SEC) dropped the final two games of the series, culminating in a lifeless 4-0 loss on Sunday that handed the Tigers their first series loss of the season.

For LSU freshman shortstop Alex Bregman, the disappearance was evident, and he offered no excuses after an 0-for-4 day on Sunday dipped his batting average below .400.

“We didn’t come out with fire,” Bregman said. “It’s the SEC; we should have. I think we need to come out with more cockiness and readiness to play.”

After an emotional roller coaster Saturday night that saw LSU coach Paul Mainieri ejected for only the second time in his Tiger career after arguing a balk called in the ninth inning en route to a 4-2 loss, LSU once again fell behind early Sunday as junior starter Kurt McCune endured a rocky first inning.

Gamecock third baseman Christian Vergason, the second batter of the game, launched a triple just past a diving Jared Foster and was chased in by South Carolina first baseman LB Dantzler’s double down the first base line two batters later.

McCune’s struggles were just beginning as Max Schrock and Grayson Greiner followed with consecutive singles, plating Dantzler before McCune put out the fire with a groundout.

“He didn’t get his curveball over, and he didn’t keep the ball down in the zone,” Mainieri said. “That’s the stuff that he’s been doing and I thought he’d do today.”

After surrendering a five-pitch walk to nine-hole hitter Tanner English to open the second, McCune allowed a single to Graham Saiko before Vergason plated English with a sacrifice fly to shallow right field, putting the Gamecocks up 3-0.

McCune’s afternoon ended almost an inning later, allowing six hits and three runs through just two-and-two-thirds innings.

The three-run lead would suffice for freshman Gamecock starter Jack Wynkoop, who befuddled the Tigers through seven shutout innings while allowing only five hits.

Tiger senior first baseman Mason Katz, who finished 1-for-4 with a double, credited Wynkoop but also shoveled some of the blame to the Tigers’ approach at the plate.

“He was missing up pitches, throwing strikes,” Katz said. “We had some feeble swings. We took some bad swings when we were ahead in the count a good few times.”

In relief of McCune, Tiger senior Brent Bonvillain pitched masterfully through four innings, allowing only one Gamecock hit while striking out two as he kept the Tigers within striking distance.

“We know they love swinging at the first pitch,” Bonvillain said. “If I threw a ball, I tried to think about what I did and make that adjustment on the mound.”

Katz’s double off Wynkoop to open the seventh breathed some life into an otherwise mute crowd of 6,380 who sensed a Tiger threat may finally be brewing.

However, as he did all afternoon, Wynkoop buckled down to induce a groundout and two popouts to end his afternoon on a high note.

LSU was then tasked with facing southpaw Adam Westmoreland out of the Gamecock bullpen. The Tigers began to gain momentum in the eighth inning  as center fielder Mark Laird roped a single and Foster drew a walk to send Bregman to the plate as the tying run.

And, in a basic summation of both Saturday and Sunday, Bregman knocked a flyout weakly to center, stranding the fifth and sixth Tiger runners of the afternoon.

South Carolina tacked on an insurance run in the ninth after junior closer Joey Bourgeois walked English and Vergason sent a sacrifice fly off Tiger senior Chris Cotton to produce the final 4-0 score.

“Fair and simple, they just outplayed us this weekend,” Mainieri said.