LSU baseball lost to Xavier 2-1 in the final game of its three game series this weekend, marking its second loss of the season.
It was a beautiful sunny day in Baton Rouge as LSU finished its weekend performance wearing “Sunday Gold” uniforms, but the outcome wasn’t what was planned for the Tigers.
The offense struggled throughout the entire game, producing few hits and failing to capitalize with runners in scoring positions.
The only run of the day for LSU was unearned, a direct result of an error from Xavier’s shortstop on two outs. Jared Jones tallied the run on an RBI from Mac Bingham.
Jones was the only LSU player with an extra base hit, sending a shot off the wall for a triple to open the bottom of the fourth inning.
The entire team was unable to find their groove at the plate, with none of the players recording more than one hit on the day.
The Tigers were never out of the game though. They continued to battle for all nine innings, thanks to a strong performance on the mound from starter Thatcher Hurd.
Hurd pitched for five innings to begin the game, tallying nine strikeouts and allowing four hits. A run was scored under his supervision, but it was unearned due to an error and a wild pitch.
Hurd impressed on the mound specifically with his ability to battle out of tough situations and keep the Musketeers at bay.
“He had a great outing,” head coach Jay Johnson said about Hurd. “He struck out a lot of guys, but I really liked how he handled the innings where there was traffic. They had a runner on second and third with no outs and they didn’t score. It was strikeout, strikeout, strikeout.”
Hurd continues to improve on the mound with his fastball control, making him more dangerous as the season progresses.
Nate Ackenhausen replaced Hurd to start the sixth, pitching for two innings and allowing the only earned run of the game with no strikeouts.
Gavin Guidry closed out the game with two innings of work, allowing one hit and recording one strikeout without any runs.
In the end, LSU had a chance to bring it to extra innings, but it was unsuccessful. Jake Brown was hit by a pitch to start the bottom of the ninth, and two groundouts advanced him to third base.
Brady Neal was unable to convert the tying run, as he struck out swinging to end the game with Brown on third. LSU had 10 runners left on base throughout the game.
The pitching staff and defense kept the game close until the end, but a lack of offensive production hindered LSU from being able to take back the lead.
The loss today moves LSU’s record to 14-2 on the season. LSU continues play against North Dakota State with a game on Tuesday and Wednesday at Alex Box Stadium before starting conference play next weekend against Mississippi State.
