When you pin one of the top pitching staffs in the country against the nations leading team in home runs, one is going to have to give.
On a chilly Friday night at Alex Box Stadium, Skip Bertman Field, it was the bats of LSU that failed to heat up as the Tigers fell to No. 3 Mississippi State by a score of 6-1 to open up conference play.
The Tiger bats have been carried by a trio of underclassmen at the top of the order, but their inexperience showed as they, along with the rest of the LSU lineup, struggled to get anything going against Mississippi State ace Christian MacLeod.
MacLeod, aside from a first inning jam, settled in quite nicely as he had his best outing on the bump all season, waiving nine Tigers over six innings, allowing one run and just three hits to a LSU lineup who had been red hot up until tonight. As a staff, State waived a total of 11 Tiger hitters.
LSU saw its best offensive opportunity in the first inning after MacLeod issued a pair of walks and committed a throwing error that loaded the bases for Jordan Thompson. Thompson then went down swinging to end the inning, stranding three Tigers on base. LSU would go on to leave double-digit players on base.
“When you face one of the top pitching staffs in the country, you’re not going to get a lot of opportunities,” Head Coach Paul Mainieri said. “When you get them, you have to make the most of them.”
Down two in the bottom of sixth, LSU for a moment looked to have swayed some momentum in their direction.
LSU saw its first and only run of the game come in the sixth inning due to some timely two-out hitting. Sophomore Cade Doughty laced a single to right field, giving LSU just its second hit of the game. Gavin Dugas then followed up with a double to right field to bring in Doughty from first, cutting the State lead to just one. But that would end up being all LSU produced offensively.
“It wasn’t necessarily bad hitting, it was just really good pitching,” Mainieri said. “You got to score more than one run to win a game and we just couldn’t muster up any hits.”
He might not have the win to show for it, but in his first conference start for LSU, Jaden Hill was impressive as well. The junior right-handed pitcher shut out the State lineup through four innings of play. Aside from a two-run shot to right field by Brayland Skinner in the fifth inning, Hill would have positioned himself well to get the win on Friday night.
After some inconsistent play within the Tiger bullpen, Mainieri elected to stick with Hill all the way until the eighth inning. Down 5-1 in a bases-loaded jam with one out, Hill was finally pulled. Ma’Khail Hilliard would then be the first and only Tiger relief pitcher in the game. Hilliard saw his first pitch swift through the left side of the infield, adding a pair of runs to the Mississippi State lead.
“It’s one game,” Dugas said following the loss. “It comes with the game. We’re going to figure it out and come back tomorrow.”
LSU will look to bounce back in game two of the series against Mississippi State on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. CT.
