LSU junior shortstop Kramer Robertson summed up a play that seemed to unknowingly bite the No. 5 Tigers (26-12, 9-7 Southeastern Conference) in the tail in their 12-8 series-opening loss against No. 7 Mississippi State.
“It’s baseball, everyone is going to make an error,” Robertson said.
Whether he or his middle infield running mate — junior second baseman Cole Freeman — knew it at the time, a routine play that resulted in a bases-loading error allowed the Bulldogs (26-12-1, 9-7 SEC) to strike the first big blow – a first-inning grand slam.
On a night when junior lefty Jared Poche’ never found his grove, LSU battled back, tied the game at four runs apiece and even recorded a grand slam of its own to narrow Mississippi State’s lead to 9-8 in the seventh inning.
“We didn’t pitch particularly great,” Mainieri said. “Our pitching was about the same as their pitching, as far as its effectiveness. The difference in the ball game was simply the defense.”
Mississippi State matched LSU’s 13 hits and took advantage of defensive woes in Friday’s win at Alex Box Stadium.
Poche’ conceded a four-pitch walk with one out in the top of the first, putting runners on first and second base. However, a tailor-made double play ball went awry when Freeman dropped Robertson’s flip.
“We were in a jam, and Poche’ made a great pitch, exactly where we want it as infielders,” Freeman said. “Kramer made a great play, flipped it to me and I just took my eye off. Just trying to go through it too fast. I think that might have been the first time I’ve ever done that.”
“I believe this loss is 110 percent on me,” Freeman said. “You take those four off, we come down and score the next four. It’s just me letting my team down.”
The Tiger southpaw required 21 pitches to end the top of the first, but his offense began to chip away at the lead in the bottom of the second against Bulldog ace Dakota Hudson.
Four straight two-out singles plated two runs and cut the LSU deficit in half, but sophomore first baseman Greg Deichmann flew out to center field to leave the bases loaded.
Poche’ worked his first 1-2-3 inning in the third, paving the way for game-tying frame from an aggressive LSU offense.
Sophomore designated hitter Bryce Jordan executed a hit-and-run with one out, moving his twin brother, Beau, to third base.
One batter later, freshman third baseman Chris Reid drove an RBI single through the right side, and sophomore catcher Michael Papierski laid down a safety squeeze bunt to push the game-tying run across.
The Tigers tagged Hudson for a career-high seven earned runs and 12 hits.
“I’m just extremely proud of the way our guys went into that batters box and competed tonight. We went up against a guy, who, in a month and a half, is going to be first round draft choice – maybe the top half of the first round, quite frankly. And we hit him around more than he’s probably been hit around all year.”
LSU appeared to have taken the lead on Beau’s two-out single in the bottom half of the next inning, but Deichmann was thrown out at the plate, keeping the game tied at four runs apiece.
Mainieri jumped into the air in frustration after the call was made, as he flew out of dugout to argue with home plate umpire Mike Morris. It was the first of two different occasions in which Mainieri had heated discussions with Morris.
“I haven’t seen the replay, but people tell me he was pretty clearly safe from the replay,” Mainieri said. “I thought he was safe. I thought it was pretty obvious he was safe. But the umpires make the calls the best they can, and he thought the runner was out…It was a pretty big momentum shift for us.”
Poche’ retired the side in order in the fifth, picking up his only two strikeouts of the night in that frame. Entering the sixth on 66 pitches, Poche’ immediately ran into trouble and couldn’t escape without two-out damage.
With men on second and third base, nine-hole hitter Hunter Stovall lined a two-run double into the right-center field gap. Poche’ intentionally walked leadoff hitter Jake Mangum, bringing up third baseman Gavin Collins, who traded places with Stoval on an RBI double.
Poche’ finished his six-inning outing with a career-high seven earned runs.
The Tigers climbed into an even deeper hole when sophomore right-handed reliever Austin Bain allowed all three men he faced to reach base via two singles and a walk. Sophomore right-hander Doug Norman entered with the bases loaded, and Mississippi State took advantage with an RBI sacrifice fly and RBI single.
LSU, though, wouldn’t go away quietly, loading the bases for freshman right fielder Antoine Duplantis. The one-out jam caused Mississippi State coach John Cohen to hook Hudson for sidearm reliever Ryan Rigby.
Duplantis made the Bulldogs pay on Rigby’s 1-0 offering, belting a grand slam over the right-field wall, his first collegiate home run.
“They’ve been throwing me kinda inside lately, today and the last couple of weekends, trying to get me with the [velocity],” Duplantis said. “So, I was just trying to get started early. I felt like I was on inside fastballs pretty well earlier in the game, so I was prepared for it and put a good swing on it.”
Another LSU self-inflicted miscue, though, became critical to another big inning for the Bulldogs. Freshman right-hander Caleb Gilbert struck out Stovall to begin the eighth inning, but the third strike got by Papierski, allowing Stovall to reach the basepaths.
With two outs later in the inning, the Bulldogs notched an RBI single and RBI double to pull ahead, 12-8.
LSU loaded the bases again in the bottom half of the inning – a frame which ran LSU emotions high after Rigby hit his third batter of the inning. But Reid Humphreys, who was started as the left fielder, relieved Rigby and struck out Freeman to quell the Tigers’ final threat.