After a stellar outing last weekend in Georgia, LSU’s Zack Hess was dominated by the Mississippi State bats on Thursday night on the way to a 6-5 loss to open up the series in Starkville.
How It Happened:
LSU stumbled out the gates with Josh Smith and Zach Watson striking out but after Antoine Duplantis was walked, Daniel Cabrera lifted one out to right field to give the Tigers an early 2-0 lead.
With two outs in the bottom of the third, it looked like Hess was starting to get into a groove. That all changed when Elijah MacNamee was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Right after that Justin Foscue ripped one out to the Left Field Lofts to give the Bulldogs a 3-1 lead.
Mississippi State increased their lead in the bottom of the fourth with an RBI double from Jordan Westburg. MacNamee and Foscue followed that up with back-to-back home runs in the bottom of the fifth to take a commanding 6-1 lead.
LSU tried to rally in the top of the eighth with three runs coming across, highlighted by an RBI double from CJ Willis to make it a one-run ballgame. That rally came up short though after Antoine Duplantis was caught stealing.
Big Number: 6
The Bulldogs have been known to get extra base hits with a lot of frequency and six total extra-base hits loomed large on Thursday night, especially with three of them being home runs.
Player of the Game: Justin Foscue
Foscue’s two home runs accounted for four of Mississippi State’s runs on the night and that’s more than enough reason to earn the honors.
Next Up: Friday vs Mississippi State; First Pitch at 6 pm
-Clint Domingue