The No. 11 LSU baseball team hadn’t played a doubleheader all season. After Sunday, it may not want to again.
The end of the weekend couldn’t get much worse for LSU (17-7, 1-5), which snagged the first game of the series before dropping both seven-inning games of Sunday’s doubleheader against Georgia (11-13, 3-3).
“We had a tough outing on the mound in the first game [of the doubleheader], and some miscues in the field really hurt us in the second game,” said LSU coach Paul Mainieri in a news release.
The Bulldogs took advantage of Saturday’s rainout to seal the series victory with a 3-2 win in the second game of the doubleheader, making LSU pay for four errors.
LSU had a chance to tie the game in the top of the sixth inning when sophomore Beau Didier ran for junior transfer catcher Jordy Snikeris. However, Snikeris was thrown out at home plate trying to score from second base on a single to center field by freshman catcher Ty Ross.
Three of LSU’s four errors came when it trailed 1-0 in the third inning.
Georgia junior second baseman Levi Hyams reached on a throwing error by freshman second baseman JaCoby Jones. LSU junior left fielder Trey Watkins committed his second error of the game on a dropped fly ball later in the inning which scored Hyams, doubling Georgia’s lead to 2-0.
Junior center fielder Zach Cone then ripped an RBI single to left field, increasing the Bulldogs’ lead to 3-0.
“We knew going into this series that Georgia’s record was very misleading because they had played such a tough schedule,” Mainieri said. “They have a great deal of talent, and they made some big plays and clutch pitches today.”
LSU senior pitcher Ben Alsup gave up three unearned runs in three innings of work. Only one of the combined five runs in the game was earned.
Junior center fielder Mikie Mahtook put the Tigers on the board with a solo home run to left field in the fourth inning for his second long ball of the weekend.
Junior shortstop Austin Nola followed with a double to center field. He moved to third base on a groundout and scored on a throwing error by Georgia’s sophomore shortstop Kyle Farmer, inching LSU closer, 3-2.
Watkins was pulled in the bottom of the fourth inning as Edward took over in left field and junior Mike Lowery moved to first base.
Freshman pitcher Ryan Eades also entered in the fourth inning and pitched three scoreless innings.
LSU loaded the bases with two outs in the fifth inning but went away empty-handed as Nola’s deep fly to center field was tracked down.
The Tigers couldn’t overcome their mishaps in the second game of the doubleheader the way Georgia could in the first Sunday game.
Georgia fell behind early but persevered through three errors and scored six runs in the second inning en route to a 9-5 victory.
All six second-inning runs were earned as Georgia blasted six hits against freshman pitcher Kevin Gausman, who lasted only two innings in his shortest outing of the season.
“This was the first [Southeastern Conference] road series for a lot of our players, so it was a learning experience for them,” Mainieri said.
Junior third baseman Tyler Hanover and Mahtook hit RBI singles in the third inning, and Nola added a two-run single to cut the lead to 6-5.
Georgia got one run back in the bottom half of the inning and put the game away with two runs in the fifth inning on a solo home run and an RBI sacrifice fly.
The highlight of the weekend for LSU was pitcher Kurt McCune’s performance in LSU’s 7-3 win Friday. The freshman allowed three runs in the first complete game for the Tigers this season, striking out seven and walking one.
LSU hit two home runs in the game, including Mahtook’s first since March 4 on a two-run shot to left field.
Follow Rowan Kavner on Twitter at TDR_Kavner.
 
 
 
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contact Rowan Kavner at [email protected]