LSU baseball had a chance to earn its first Southeastern Conference sweep of the season Sunday afternoon but fell 7-5 to Auburn.
The home Tigers got in a deep hole early, giving up five runs in the first inning and could never overcome that deficit. The offense did a better job hitting with runners on base, as a Steven Milam three-run home run in the fourth inning put LSU back in the game after a rough start.
Kade Anderson got the start on the mound for LSU, but only retired two batters before giving up five runs and exiting the game. Sunday’s game was Anderson’s first start in an SEC matchup. The pressure was on, and in the first inning, LSU couldn’t seem to catch a break.
Auburn had a runner on second with two outs, and just when it looked like LSU might escape the first inning, a few blooped singles ended in three Auburn runs.
After Will Hellmers finished the first inning, Griffin Herring started the second, getting the de facto start as he has the last few Sundays.
Herring had another solid outing, pitching 4.1 innings, giving up two earned runs on five hits while striking out four. He’s continued to prove himself as a reliable arm out of the bullpen.
LSU’s pitching in defense was largely impressive after the first inning, with Christian Little and Justin Loer taking over after Herring exited. In his 1.2 innings, Little allowed one hit and struck out two. In his one inning, Loer allowed two hits and struck out two.
Junior Samuel Dutton was called in from the bullpen to close out the game. In his one inning, the right-handed pitcher walked one and struck out three.
Despite the pitching remaining solid throughout the latter stages of the game, LSU once again failed to take advantage of opportunities at the plate. The home Tigers stranded runners in scoring position in both the seventh and eighth inning, two golden opportunities to steal the game.
The loss drops LSU to 7-14 in SEC play and has the Tigers tied for 12th just above the cut line to get into the SEC Tournament. A sweep against Auburn felt like a must given its 2-18 SEC record coming into the game.
It was an opportunity for LSU to move firmly into 11th place and retain some momentum before another tough series against Texas A&M next weekend.
Now with three SEC series left in the season, LSU would need to finish 6-3 to reach 13 wins, the number it would likely take to make the NCAA Tournament field.
Facing Texas A&M is going to be an uphill battle against the second-place team in the SEC West. Series against Ole Miss and Alabama feel more winnable for LSU, but after dropping a winnable game to Auburn, there’s less room for error than ever.
