After enduring a shocking 16-3 loss Saturday night, the No. 17 LSU baseball team could either fold or retaliate in the rubber game.
It chose the latter.
Senior pitcher Ben Alsup tossed a masterful eight innings in the longest outing of his career, leading LSU to a 8-2 victory and series win against Ole Miss.
Freshman second baseman JaCoby Jones, junior center fielder Mikie Mahtook and junior shortstop Austin Nola combined for six RBIs and five of LSU’s 11 hits in the heart of the Tiger lineup.
Mahtook nearly delivered his 11th home run of the season to dead-center field in the third inning.
The ball looked to have cleared the fence and ricocheted off the batter’s eye, but it was ruled an RBI triple off the top of the fence, giving LSU a 5-0 lead. Nola brought Mahtook in with an RBI single in the next at-bat.
Mahtook gave the Tigers a 2-0 lead in the first inning, drilling a one-hopper to third base with the bases loaded. Freshman third baseman Preston Overbey stepped on third base and threw low across the diamond and past Ole Miss senior first baseman Miles Hamblin, scoring two as Mahtook made it all the way to third base on the error.
Sophomore left fielder Alex Edward hit his first home run of the season on a fly ball to left field in the second inning which kept drifting and found its way into the seats.
LSU scored three runs in the first inning, one in the second and two in the third and fourth innings, putting eight runs on the board immediately.
Alsup gave up two walks – both in the eighth inning – and tossed four strikeouts, giving up two runs in his eight innings. The only Ole Miss hitter to give Alsup trouble was senior right fielder Matt Smith, who went 3-for-3 with a two-run home run jacked to left field.
Junior Matty Ott closed the door in the final frame, helped in large part by Mahtook who made an incredible diving catch in right-center field with a man on second base to end the game.
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Contact Rowan Kavner at [email protected]