Game 1
The LSU baseball team faced a one-run deficit entering the ninth inning against Mississippi State on Friday night.
LSU’s first two hitters to the plate in the ninth inning were retired, then Hayden Travinski walked and Josh Stevenson was hit by a pitch. A wild pitch moved Travinski pinch-runner Collier Cranford to second base and Josh Stevenson to third. Tre’ Morgan hit a single to center field that scored Cranford and Stevenson.
It put LSU up 3-2 vs. Mississippi State. Dylan Crews followed Morgan with a two-run home run over the right-center field fence. Crews’ homer put LSU up 5-2 vs. Mississippi State.
Behind two-out hits from Tre’ Morgan and Dylan Crews, LSU produced a four-run ninth inning to defeat Mississippi State 5-2.
LSU won the game 5-2 after a shutout bottom of the ninth inning by Paul Gervase.
Game 2
Shortstop Jordan Thompson launched a sixth-inning solo home run to break a 3-3 tie. The LSU bullpen blanked Mississippi State over five innings as the Tigers earned a 4-3 win.
LSU starting pitcher Blake Money worked four innings and was charged with three runs, two earned, on six hits with one walk and five strikeouts.
The Tigers’ bullpen, Devin Fontenot, Paul Gervase, Trent Vietmeier, Riley Cooper and Eric Reyzelman, combined to shut out the Bulldogs over a five-inning span, allowing just three hits with 10 strikeouts. Right-hand pitcher Devin Fontenot (2-1), the third of six LSU pitchers, was credited with the win, as he worked one scoreless inning and allowed one hit with no walks and three strikeouts.
“All of our relievers came in and did a phenomenal job,” Head Coach Jay Johnson said. “Everybody who came in had runners on base and left them on base at the end of the inning, which was awesome. They showed a lot of poise in blocking out the crowd and executing the pitch.”
Game 3
Tre Morgan, Dylan Crews and Jacob Berry responded to the Bulldog’s one run homer in the first inning with RBIs in the third and fifth innings.
To finish the fifth, Josh Pearson hit his first career home run as a Tiger and scored Crews and Berry in the process. Morgan doubled in sixth and McManus scored on the hit. The score read 7-1 LSU entering the seventh inning.
In the seventh inning, Doughty and Pearson added two solo home runs. Doughty and Pearson continued their strong day at the plate in the eighth inning and both scored RBIs. Crews added to the Tigers’ score with a two RBI double up the middle.
Samuel Dutton got the start on the mound. He pitched three innings, allowed four hits, one earned run and one strikeout. Grant Taylor relieved him in the fourth inning. Taylor pitched four innings, allowed five hits, two earned runs and had six strikeouts.
LSU won game three of the series 13-3.
LSU baseball has proven once again that they can contend with anyone in the SEC, and they have won their ninth straight series in Starkville. LSU has won 14 of its last 16 SEC series against Mississippi State, and the Tigers have posted nine consecutive series victories at Dudy Noble Field. The last time LSU lost a series in Starkville, Mississippi was in 2003.
