While Ole Miss came into this season as the defending national champion, it also came into its matchup against LSU as the worst team in the SEC West based on both conference record and overall record.
With the Tigers already faltering against Louisiana-Lafayette earlier in the week, dropping a second straight would potentially put their No. 1 ranking in jeopardy. They have the good fortune of No. 2 Wake Forest dropping game one against Pitt and No. 3 Florida losing a series against South Carolina this week on their side for now, but a game one loss to Ole Miss would surely hurt them.
Luckily for Tiger fans, they can rest assured for now.
Behind decent pitching from Paul Skenes and Griffin Herring, along with a huge fifth inning from LSU’s batting room, it took game one by a score of 7-3. It goes into game two having re-established its momentum against a team that has the talent to take it down despite not meeting preseason expectations.
For the Tigers, scoring kicked off in the first inning. After Dylan Crews came inches away from hitting a one-run home run to left center, ultimately resulting in a triple, a fielding error from Ole Miss’s shortstop allowed him to advance home.
It faced two outs in that situation, just like it did in the third. In that case, Dugas had managed to travel to third base off his own double down the left-foul line and Tre Morgan getting grounded out. Then, a wild pitch would give him the opportunity he needed to score, as the Tigers went into the bottom of the third with a 2-0 lead.
Even with the momentum and Skenes performing to near perfection through the first three innings, there were bound to be a few bumps in the road eventually.
After allowing two hits in the fourth to grant the Rebels corners, LSU would find itself down 3-2 in the fourth after Ole Miss freshman Will Furniss, son of Tiger legend Eddy Furniss, nailed a Skenes fast ball to right center for a three-run home run.
It wouldn’t take LSU long to respond though. Following two walks and a Tre’ Morgan single, it found itself with bases loaded and Tommy White up to bat. He’d manage to do what he does best, crushing a ball down center field for a pivotal grand slam.
Following that home run, it would be the only team to contribute to the scoreboard. Skenes bounced back, allowing just one Rebel to get on base through the next two innings. Freshman Griffin Herring would finish the job from there, giving up zero hits, two walks and hitting a single batter through three innings to close out the game.
Skenes finished with a season-high 117 pitches through six innings, allowing four hits, three runs (all earned) and three walks while striking out 11 batters and finishing with a strike-rate of 62.3%. While he had his blemishes this game, he continues to have one of the best seasons on the mound we’ve seen in a while at LSU.
The series continues tomorrow at 2 p.m., with the game streaming live on ESPN2.
