Tigers leave eight on base in 6-5 game one loss to No. 2 Bulldogs
For the second straight SEC game, an eighth inning run game up short as the Tigers dropped game one to No. 2 Mississippi State 6-5.
Trailing 6-2 in the top of the eighth, the LSU bats woke up getting RBI hits from Cade Beloso, CJ Willis and Chris Reid that cut the Bulldog lead to 6-5.
After a scoreless bottom of the inning from Trent Vietmeier, LSU had Zach Watson, Antoine Duplantis and Daniel Cabrera due up.
Watson struck out swinging but Duplantis followed with a single. After a strikeout from Cabrera, Duplantis was sent to second at an attempt to get in scoring position but was thrown out to end the game.
Zack Hess came into the outing with a 2.97 ERA after a nine strikeout, no run performance against Georgia last weekend.
Hess was well on his way to a repeat performance, getting out of a two on with two out scenario in the opening frame, taking 24 pitches to do so. The junior ace went 5.1 innings and gave up 6 runs on 11 hits with three strikeouts.
A problem for Hess has been limiting his pitch count inning-to-inning and after three innings that count was all the way up to 70.
The trouble came in the third when Mangum lead off with a double and Hess hit a batter. Then Justin Foscue stepped to the plate and crushed a three run homerun that made it a 3-2 Bulldog lead after three innings.
The LSU bats got going early, something that couldn’t be said in recent weeks, with left fielder Daniel Cabrera knocking a two out fastball out of the park for a early 2-0 lead.
However, other than a walk to Duplantis and the homer from Cabrera, the other six Tiger batters struck out to the Bulldog ace Ethan Small. Small came into the evening with a 2-0 record with a 1.97 ERA so the early offense was promising from a struggling group.
The hot start couldn’t be maintained as Small struck out nine LSU batters in the first four innings including three innings where he struck out the side. The Tigers struck out 17 times in the game, the highest of the season by a large margin.
One of the storylines heading into the weekend was the Jake Mangum, Duplantis race for the SEC hits record. Duplantis has been through a serious rough patch the last three weeks, allowing Mangum to take a sizeable 21 hit lead on the LSU senior.
On Friday, Mangum went 1-for-5 while Duplantis went 1-for-3.
Back-to-back Mississippi State homeruns in the fifth ended Hess’ night in replace of Trent Vietmeier.
LSU had opportunities to cut into a growing Mississippi State lead in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings but stranded seven runners stranded on base.
The Tigers will look to even the series on Friday at 6 p.m. with freshman Cole Henry on the mound.