After an unexpected loss on Saturday, LSU baseball suffered another head-scratching loss on Sunday, falling 14-13 to Mississippi State.
LSU’s bats were held relatively quiet on Sunday, but that wasn’t the case in the series finale. After scoring just four runs on Saturday, the Tigers exploded for 13 runs on Sunday, in what turned into an offensive slugfest.
LSU had the upper hand early on in the game, scoring three runs in the second inning, followed by two more in the third to get out to an early 5-1 lead. Mississippi State cut the LSU lead to just one in the fourth inning, but eight more LSU runs in the fourth and fifth innings gave the Tigers what felt like an insurmountable 13-4 lead.
Eight of those LSU runs came off the bat of Tre’ Morgan and Bradyen Jobert. Jobert got the scoring started with a three-run home run in the second inning before driving two more runs home with an RBI single in the fourth inning.
Morgan brought the power as well, hitting two home runs. The first was a solo shot in the third inning and the second came in the fifth inning, driving home two runs.
Despite the big lead, Mississippi State came roaring back, dominating LSU’s bullpen for the second straight day. The Bulldogs scored nine runs over the next two innings, leaving the game tied at 13 in the seventh inning.
Christian Little, Blake Money, Nate Ackenhausen and Bryce Collins all gave up runs during that stretch, as LSU struggled to find an answer for the Mississippi State offense.
After Javen Colemn started the game on the mound, LSU used eight different pitchers in relief. Those eight pitchers combined to give up 14 hits, seven walks and 12 earned runs, allowing Mississippi State back into the game.
Riley Cooper entered the game for LSU in the seventh inning and steadied things for the Tigers. He inherited the bases loaded and got a huge out to preserve the tie entering the eighth inning.
Cooper worked out of another bases-loaded jam in the eighth inning, before retiring the side in order in the ninth.
He kept Mississippi State off the board until the 10th inning, where a fielder’s choice scored a run to make it 14-13.
Cooper finished the game pitching 2.2 innings, allowing three hits and one earned run.
LSU had one last chance in the bottom of the 10th inning, but was unable to plate a run, with the game ending in a double play.
After having a nine-run lead after five innings, LSU lost both the game and the series to Mississippi State, who came into the weekend as the second to last place team in the SEC.
LSU’s next game will be a midweek contest against McNeese State before traveling to Athens for its final SEC series of the season against Georgia.
