The wet weather that ran through southern Louisiana on Friday and Saturday made its way to Oxford, Miss., to put a damper on LSU’s weekend road trip against Ole Miss.But the No. 19 Rebels (28-13, 11-7) put an even bigger spoil to the Tigers’ six-game winning streak, as they swept past the No. 8 Tigers (32-9, 11-7) on Saturday and Sunday after rain forced the postponement of Friday’s game.To make matters worse for the Tigers, LSU scored first only to give up the lead in all three games of the series.In game three, the Tigers held a 6-4 lead in the eighth before two solo home runs tied the game up and a walk-off single ended the game in favor of Ole Miss, 7-6.”Our kids competed extremely hard, but we couldn’t extend the lead when we had some chances,” said LSU coach Paul Mainieri in a news release.Ole Miss shortstop Kevin Mort delivered the no-out, bases loaded single off LSU reliever Austin Ross. The ball fell over the head of LSU centerfielder Leon Landry, who was positioned in shallow left field, as Mainieri had brought in a fifth infielder.The Tigers cruised most of the game with the lead until LSU starter Chris Matulis unraveled.Matulis finished the game giving up five earned runs on eight hits with four strikeouts in 7 2/3 innings, but it was a few of his pitches that changed the game and left him with a no decision.Ole Miss designated hitter Matty Snyder hit the first of two homers, and second baseman Alex Yarbrough hit the second, the first home run of his career, to tie the game. “[Sunday] was another great game,” said Ole Miss coach Mike Bianco in a news release. “We had three great crowds and matched it with three great games.” The Tigers scored three runs on four hits to open the scoring in the second, but they allowed the Rebels to tie the game on just one hit.LSU had chances in the early innings to put more on the board, especially as the team put the leadoff man on base in each inning, but it stranded five runners through the first three innings.LSU right fielder Mikie Mahtook broke the tie in the fourth with a two-run opposite-field home run, his 10th of the season.The Tigers added another run, but Ole Miss never went away.”We played well and finally got the hits that we’ve been missing,” Bianco said. “Offensively, we played more like the team we knew we could be, and pitching we were good enough to get the wins.”The rain forced the first game of the series from Friday night to Saturday afternoon, delaying the much-anticipated pitching matchup between LSU’s Anthony Ranaudo and Ole Miss’ Drew Pomeranz.That matchup lasted only briefly, as the Rebels pounded Ranaudo to the tune of nine runs in fewer than two innings, with four of those runs coming in the second on a grand slam, en route to an 11-9 Ole Miss victory.The Tigers didn’t go away easily, as they forced Pomeranz, the nation’s leading strikeout pitcher, out after just three innings. Senior first baseman Blake Dean blasted a two-run home run in the top of the first inning and senior designated hitter Matt Gaudet added two of his own, one in the sixth and one in the eighth, along with four RBIs, to help keep the game close.The second game of the Saturday double-header needed 11 innings to be completed, as Ole Miss pulled out a 9-8 victory.The Tigers held a 5-0 lead early but fell behind, 8-5, before tying the game.Yarbrough delivered a clutch RBI single off LSU closer Matty Ott with two outs in the bottom of the 11th to give the Rebels the victory as the clock nearly struck 11:30 p.m., marking a more than eight-hour day of baseball for the Tigers.Ott was once again forced into a long relief role, as was the case in last weekend’s extra inning affair against Alabama. The sophomore was charged with the loss as he allowed one run on two hits in 3.2 innings with three walks and four strikeouts.
“These are tough losses, but I’m very proud of the way our players competed in a hostile environment against a very talented Ole Miss team,” Mainieri said after Saturday’s losses.—-Contact Andy Schwehm at [email protected]