LSU drop series finale at Georgia, will open SEC tourney as No. 3 seed
Cold LSU bats couldn’t provide support for the No. 4 ranked Tigers’ usual shaky SEC series finale relief pitching Saturday.
Three of five LSU hurlers allowed multiple runs and the Tigers went 0 for 10 at plate with runners in scoring position in a 9-5 regular-season closing loss at Georgia.
But since LSU had already won the series with victories on Thursday and Friday, the weekend was considered a success since the Tigers lost series the last two weekends to Auburn and Mississippi State.
LSU (42-13 overall, 19-10 in SEC West) finished the regular season with the most SEC wins since the 2017 club won 21 league games. The Tigers also recorded their most overall regular-season wins since the 2015 squad ended the regular season with 46 victories.
“We have very good players who compete very hard,” LSU second-year head coach Jay Johnson said. “They care about each other, and they care about winning. They’ve done a great job to put themselves in this position, and I think we’ll be prepared to play well from this point forward.”
LSU opens play in the SEC tournament as the No. 3 seed playing at 9:30 Wednesday morning against the winner of Tuesday’s game between the winner of No. 6 seed South Carolina and No. 11 seed Georgia.
LSU began Saturday’s loss leading 2-0 on left fielder Tre’ Morgan’s two-run homer. Georgia’s response was scoring six unanswered runs in the next three innings as Johnson started his parade of relievers.
The Bulldogs tied the game at 2-2 in the bottom of the second inning on designated hitter Fernando Gonzalez RBI single off LSU starter Javen Coleman. An error by Tigers’ third baseman Tommy White provided the second run.
Georgia took a 3-2 lead in the third with a solo homer by left fielder Connor Tate. The Bulldogs plated three runs in the fourth for a 6-2 advantage, keyed by first baseman Charlie Condon’s two-run homer.
LSU fought back in the top of sixth. First baseman Cade Beloso hit a solo homer and the Tigers executed a double steal with right fielder Brayden Jobert scoring from third base to reduce Georgia’s margin to 6-4.
The Bulldogs got a run back in the bottom of the sixth. LSU reliever Christian Little issued bases-loaded walk to Georgia third baseman Parks Harber that scored center fielder Ben Anderson for 7-4 cushion.
White’s solo homer in the top of the seventh cut the Georgia lead to 7-5 before two Georgia runs in the bottom of the seventh off two LSU relievers shut the door on the Tigers.
The win helped Georgia (29-26, 11-19 in SEC East) secure the last bid in the league tourney.
“We get a chance to play one more day Tuesday,” Georgia head coach Scott Stricklin said. “You win that then you get two more. This team is more than capable of making a run. I think they know that. We all know that. You just have to finish games. You go out Tuesday, and we just have to play really good baseball. I know these kids will fight."
LSU was set to stay in Athens Saturday night before busing to Hoover on Sunday where they will rest and recover before beginning preparations for their Wednesday tourney opener.
“We’ve played our way into a great position to play all of our NCAA postseason games at home,” Johnson said. “We’re disappointed about the loss today, but we’ve put ourselves in great position to achieve our goals, and we’re excited about that.”