The No. 1 LSU baseball team couldn’t survive a plethora of Kentucky runs and dropped Game 3 of its weekend series in 11 innings, 12-10.
The Tigers (23-5, 5-4 Southeastern Conference) gave up 19 hits as the Wildcats (18-10, 4-5 SEC) rallied to hand the Tigers their first series loss of the season.
“It was a gut-wrenching loss,” said LSU coach Paul Mainieri. “We got ourselves in a hole right out of the gate.”
Kentucky pitcher Kyle Cody kept the Tigers’ bats quiet through the first two innings, allowing one hit, but LSU began to figure out the 6-foot-7-inch right hander in the third. LSU battled back for two runs on three hits to get on the board.
LSU sophomore left fielder Jake Fraley appeared to injure his hamstring in the inning, and was replaced by sophomore second baseman Kramer Robertson on the base paths, shifting senior Jared Foster to left field for the remainder of the day.
Fraley posted on Twitter he will be back in a couple of days and that his injury was “nothing serious.”
The Tigers recovered from Fraley’s loss, plating Robertson from second on an infield single from junior right fielder Mark Laird. Laird advanced to third on the play on a throwing error by Cody but was left stranded on a flyout by junior shortstop Alex Bregman.
After a scoreless fourth inning, the Tigers came back strong in the fifth. Senior designated hitter Chris Sciambra led off the inning by getting hit by a pitch to put a runner on for Foster, who delivered a home run off the left field scoreboard to knot the game at four. It was Foster’s second homer in two games, and he leads the Tigers with seven.
The Tigers kept the rally alive, rattling Cody for two more runs in the frame. After a Robertson triple to left field, Laird sent a hard-to-handle grounder to Kentucky second baseman JaVon Shelby for an error. The play scored Robertson and gave the Tigers their first lead of the game at 5-4.
Senior third baseman Conner Hale extended the Tigers’ lead to 6-4 with a solo shot to left center field for his fourth home run on the season.
The Wildcats answered with a run of their own in the seventh inning to cut the LSU lead to 6-5, but LSU rallied for two runs in the bottom half of the inning to extend its lead to 8-5.
Kentucky wouldn’t go away, chipping at the LSU lead again to take a 9-8 lead in the eighth inning. LSU would answer again, however, scoring two runs in the bottom half to retake the lead.
But the pesky Wildcats tied the game at 10 in the ninth on an inside-the-park home run from Riley Mahan to send the game into extra innings. The Wildcats eventually sealed the game in the 11th with two runs off LSU sophomore pitcher Parker Bugg.
“We seemingly had the game in hand, and then you see one of the most bizarre plays you’ve ever seen — an inside-the-park home run,” Mainieri said. “What are the odds?”
LSU freshman pitcher Jake Godfrey had a nightmarish outing, surviving only one and two-third innings as Kentucky rattled him for four runs in the second. Godfrey faced 12 batters, allowing six hits on 35 pitches.
Godfrey gave up five of his six hits in the second inning and ended with a 3.21 ERA.
LSU’s 19 hits and 12 runs allowed are season highs, previously allowing 12 hits on Feb. 18 against Nicholls and eight runs against Southeastern on Feb. 26.
“We’re just going to have to regroup and just keep playing,” Mainieri said. “We’re at the midway point … and nothing good will happen if you don’t maintain positive attitude and keep working hard, and that’s what we’ll do.”
You can reach Jack Chascin on Twitter @Chascin_TDR.