LSU baseball falls to Southern Miss in ninth inning of regional final

LSU's cardiac cats ran out of late-inning lives Monday in Hattiesburg.

The Tigers allowed an early lead to slip away in an erratic seventh inning, pulled back even in eighth, but fell in the ninth for a season-ending 8-7 loss to host Southern Miss.

The No. 11 Golden Eagles (47-17) led off the final frame with back-to-back two-out singles and a go-ahead sacrifice fly by junior third baseman Danny Lynch to score junior first baseman Christopher Sargent.

And LSU (40-22) couldn't piece together a third come-from-behind victory in four games in four days to extend its season.

Second baseman Cade Doughty, first baseman Tre' Morgan and shortstop Jordan Thompson entered the ninth inning a combined 6-for-11 at the plate with six RBIs, a Doughty home run and a Morgan walk.

But that sophomore trio went down in order in the final frame — ground out, ground out, strikeout — at the hands of Southern Miss sophomore right-hander Tyler Stuart, who earned the win in relief.

Doughty, Morgan and Thompson finished 6-for-14, and pinch-hitter Gavin Dugas hit a late game-tying homer. But the rest of the lineup went 4-for-21 with eight strikeouts.

Seven LSU pitchers allowed eight runs, just five of which were earned, on 12 hits, five walks and five strikeouts. USM's leadoff hitter each inning got on base in seven of nine innings.

Redshirt freshman right fielder Carson Paetow got the home crowd involved right away with a solo shot to right field on the third pitch of the game.

But LSU fifth-year senior ace Ma'Khail Hilliard responded to retire three of the next four batters to end the inning and six of the following seven to cruise through the second and third.

And his teammates provided him immediate support.

Freshman right fielder Josh Pearson and sophomore third baseman Jacob Berry sparked the offense with a pair of singles and both advanced on a Golden Eagles throwing error that allowed Doughty to reach safely and load the bases.

Morgan drilled a two-RBI single to center field, and Doughty followed home one a sacrifice bunt by Thompson the next at-bat.

Doughty pulled a two-out home run to left field in the bottom of the third to extend the lead to 4-1.

Southern Miss pulled back to within 4-3 in the top of the fourth.

Sargent singled to left field to start the rally and chase Hilliard — pitching on two days rest — from the mound.

Junior righty Paul Gervase took over for the Tigers, but the Golden Eagles kept attacking.

Sophomore designated hitter Slade Wilks drew a walk, and Lynch singled a full-count pitch off a nasty hop and ricochet off Gervase's wrist to load the bases with nobody out.

All three runners advanced on a passed ball, with Sargent coming home for a run.

And Wilks scored later on a ground out by senior center fielder Gabe Montenegro to pull the hosts back within a run.

LSU stranded a runner on first in the fifth inning and loaded bases in the sixth.

And Southern Miss was less hospitable in the top of the seventh.

The Golden Eagles worked their way through four pitchers and cobbled together four runs on two hits, three free passes and an error to seize a 7-4 lead.

Paetow and sophomore shortstop Dustin Dickerson set the table with a walk and hit-by-pitch, respectively, off sophomore lefty Jacob Hasty and graduate student righty Fontenot.

Junior left fielder Reece Ewing loaded the bases on a mishandled bunt by Fontenot.

And Sargent looped a game-tying sacrifice fly to center field to score Paetow and end Fontenot's afternoon.

Wilks singled to left off sophomore righty Bryce Collins to bring Dickerson home for the 5-4 lead.

Lynch reached on a fielder's choice to put runners at the corner, and junior second baseman Will McGillis drew a walk to load the bases and bring graduate student righty Vietmeier from the bullpen to replace Collins.

Montenegro took a two-out single to right field to score Ewing and Lynch and stretch the advantage to 7-4.

The Tigers got a pair of those runs back in the bottom of the inning with a two-out walk by Berry and three straight singles by Doughty, Morgan and Thompson.

Sophomore righty Eric Reyzelman took the mound to start the eighth inning and torched through three Golden Eagles in 11 pitches to hold the deficit at one.

And junior pinch-hitter Gavin Dugas cranked a 3-1 pitch over the left-field wall to lead off the bottom of the inning to pull the game back even, 7-7.

But Southern Miss regained the lead in the ninth with back-to-back two-strike singles by Sargent and Wilks and a go-ahead sacrifice fly by Lynch before Reyzelman could slow the rally.

And LSU couldn't muster any final late-inning magic at the plate to salvage a tournament highlighted by come-from-behind wins over Kennesaw State on Friday and Southern Miss in 10 innings on Saturday.

Four Tigers -- catcher Tyler McManus, Dylan Crews, Doughty and Pearson -- were named the Hattiesburg Regional all-tournament team. USM's Sargent was named the Regional's Most Outstanding Player.

The Tigers failed to advance through the regionals for the first time since 2018.

Previous LSU coach Paul Mainieiri and company made Super Regional appearances in 2019 and 2021.

The 2020 college baseball season was abruptly ended during the regular season because of the COVID-19 pandemic.