After a recent 10-7 midweek loss to Bethune-Cookman at home, the LSU baseball team went on the road for the second straight weekend. This time, the Tigers traveled to Oxford, Mississippi, to take on the Ole Miss Rebels.
LSU struggled to manufacture runs post the opening inning and fell in game one 6-3 as the eighth inning was where the game was lost. The loss dropped the Tigers to 22-13 and 6-7 in SEC play.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
LSU got on the board first, taking a 2-0 lead in the opening frame. Chris Stanfield led off with a walk, followed by a two-run home run by Jake Brown after a failed pickoff attempt by Ole Miss’s starting pitcher, Hunter Elliott. Cade Arrambide and Mason Braun hit singles before Arrambide was picked off at third base for the final out.
The Rebels responded with a two-run first inning of their own. Dom Decker and Tristan Bissetta led off with singles into opposite corners of the outfield, with Will Furniss driving in a run on a single up the middle. Bissetta then scored on a Casan Evans passed ball to tie the game.
After a three-up-three-down inning by the Tigers, the Rebels took their first lead at the bottom of the second. Owen Paino, the team’s nine-hole hitter, led off the inning with a solo homer over the right-center field wall, putting Ole Miss ahead 3-2.
Jay Johnson’s squad had a chance to tie the game at the top of the fourth when Braun doubled, and Omar Serna Jr singled to third base to put runners on the corners with one out. Elliott responded and got out of the jam by striking out Seth Dardar and John Pearson.
A similar situation happened for the Tigers in the sixth when Steven Milam reached first as the ball landed in no man’s land in right field. Then, with two outs, Serna Jr singled down the left field line to advance Milam to third. Dardar couldn’t capitalize on a runner in scoring position and was called out on a check swing.
LSU tied the game at the top of the seventh. It began when Ole Miss’s relief pitcher Landon Waters walked Pearson and Stanfield to begin the inning. His stint on the mound was short-lived as he was taken out for Walker Hooks with no outs on the board. William Patrick pinch ran for Pearson after Brown popped out at shortstop, but Arrambide reached on a fielding error by the Rebel third baseman as the ball bounced out of his glove. The play resulted in the bases being loaded, and Curiel tied the game at three with a flyout to center field.
After six innings, coach Johnson pulled Evans in favor of Zac Cowan. Evans punched nine out and allowed three runs on five hits on the road.
Everything fell apart for the Bayou Bengals in the eighth with a bad throw by the defense. Bissetta opened with a single, and Judd Utermark reached first after Ethan Clauss was credited with a fielding error by not having his foot on second base when he caught the ball. The bases were then loaded with a Furniss single after a bad throw by Dardar to first base. All three base runners then scored on hits by Hayden Federico and Brett Moseley, then a flyout by Brayden Randle. That put the Rebels ahead by three heading into the ninth. Connor Benge replaced Cowan ahead of the final out of the eighth.
Any hope of a rally for LSU went away instantly as the Tigers went three-up-three-down at the top of the ninth. Edward Yamin IV popped out, Stanfield fouled out, and Brown swung and missed to secure the 6-3 loss. That dropped the Bayou Bengals’ record to 22-13 and 6-7 in conference play.
BIG NUMBER: 3
The Tigers had a chance to take the lead late and were looking to do so in the ninth before hell broke loose at the bottom of the eighth. The inning began with multiple hits and mental errors by the Tigers’ infield to load the bases with no outs. Those three runners would all make it home on RBI hits and a sacrifice fly that gave the Rebel took much of a lead to overcome.
PLAYER OF THE GAME: Hunter Elliott
Ole Miss’s ace had a strong night on the mound. In his six innings pitched, Elliott allowed just two runs on eight hits and struck out eight as LSU fell in game one on Friday, 6-3.
UP NEXT: Game two between the LSU Tigers and Ole Miss Rebels is scheduled for Saturday, April 11th at 4:00 PM. The action can be heard on ESPN 103.7 Lafayette and 104.1 Lake Charles.