After an almost four-hour contest, which included 27 hits, 19 runs and 15 different pitchers, the No. 5 LSU baseball team avoided being swept by No. 7 Mississippi State with an 11-8 victory Sunday at Alex Box Stadium.
LSU’s (27-13, 10-8 Southeastern Conference) defense was stout, avoiding errors that cost the Tigers their previous two games against the Bulldogs (27-13-1, 10-8 SEC).
LSU coach Paul Mainieri was pleased with his team’s defensive performance.
“Our defense was really good today,” Mainieri said. “Today was a much more crisp day for us. We needed it. Mississippi State is a very relentless team offensively. Our pitching struggled at times today.”
Mississippi State chased LSU senior starting pitcher John Valek III out of the game after collecting five hits and three runs in the third inning.
LSU junior pitcher Russell Reynolds was called on to stop the bleeding for the Tigers. When Reynolds came in, he inherited two base runners in scoring position with only one out.
The righty would calmly get a flyout and strikeout to end the Bulldogs’ threat to tack more runs.
“I hated to have such a quick hook on John, but I just felt we couldn’t get anymore in a hole there,” Mainieri said. “I thought Russell had a little bit better stuff, and he had a better chance to pitch out of the jam. He kind of settled the game down for us. He gave us some key innings.”
Trailing 3-0 heading into the bottom of the fourth, the LSU offense was struggling, with its only base runner coming from an error on Bulldog third baseman Gavin Collins.
It all changed when LSU junior center fielder Jake Fraley’s infield pop-up fell for a base hit.
Fraley helped spring a four-run inning, where the Tigers had five hits and all nine starters stepped to the plate, giving LSU its first lead all weekend.
“I was messing with the guys in here,” Fraley said. “I told them that whenever my career is over here, that’s probably going to be one of my best hits with LSU.”
The next inning was just as generous for the Tigers.
With two outs and one man in scoring position, junior shortstop Kramer Robertson smacked an RBI double to left center, which started another four-run inning for the Tigers.
All four of the LSU runs came before the Bulldogs recorded an out, including a two-run blast from sophomore designated hitter Bryce Jordan.
“I was waiting for him to leave a fastball over the plate,” Jordan said. “He did, [and] I used his speed just to barrel the ball up.”
However, Mississippi State didn’t go quietly.
LSU freshman pitcher Caleb Gilbert entered the top of the sixth in relief of Reynolds, but he was ineffective. Junior right-hander Parker Bugg replaced him.
The Bulldogs cut into the LSU lead again with an RBI double and RBI single, making the score 8-5.
Buggwould settle in and get the next two Bulldog batters out, setting up another big offensive inning for LSU.
After a walk, Fraley belted an RBI triple to put LSU up 9-5. Robertson would go on to hit his first homer of the season to extend the LSU lead in the bottom of the sixth.
“I was just hoping it would stay fair,” Robertson said about his home run. “We knew coming into today [that] it was going to be a good day to hit. It’s hot, wind blowing out a little bit. We knew we were going to have to put up a lot of runs.”
The Bulldogs had one more rally left in them, scoring three runs in the top of the eighth and shrinking the LSU lead to 11-8.
Even though the Tigers dropped the series to the Bulldogs, Mainieri was still happy his team avoided the sweep.
“Great character out of our team to fall behind again after losing the first two games of the weekend, not get down and keep battling,” Mainieri said. “They played hard all weekend, and I’m really proud of them.”