LSU sweeps Mississippi State: Key takeaways for the Tigers

By Andrew Riedell

In what seemed like the longest three nights in Baton Rouge the LSU Tigers swept the Mississippi State Bulldogs in what seems to be two teams going in very different directions. LSU comes into this weekend #7 in the College Baseball Central after going 4-0 last week. This series got the weird Thursday-Friday-Saturday slot but it nearly was a four day contest due to the rain that entered the Baton Rouge area. Here is how it happened:

Thursday: LSU 8 Mississippi State 6

The only game that was not delayed by weather at all as LSU ace Kade Anderson got the start for the Tigers and he did not have his best stuff as Mississippi State's lineup got runs on the board in every inning against him. He was leaving alot of his off speed up which Ace Reese, Hunter Hines, and Joe Powell took advantage of it and sent those pitches for home runs. The Tigers though showed no quit as they used a five run fifth inning to give themselves the lead which the Tigers kept for the rest of the way. In the fifth we saw home runs from Daniel Dickinson and Steven Milam to give the Tigers the lead and the rest of the way the ball was given to Zac Cowan and he dominated against this Mississippi State lineup as he went 4 innings only allowing 1 hit and striking out 7 on his way for his third save of the year.

Friday: LSU 2 Mississippi State 1

The first of what many weather delays started on Friday as the game was originally scheduled for 6:30 started at 9:05 PM but that did not stop Anthony Eyanson from having his best outing in an LSU uniform. Eyanson went 5 innings surrendering 5 hits allowing 1 unearned run and striking out 12 on the way to his 4th win of the season. Pico Kohn and Stone Simmons were phenomenal for Mississippi State as well as if their offense did not leave 12 runners on base they probably take this one from LSU. Ethan Frey got the scoring started on his fifth home run of the season and then Luis Hernandez hit the game winning solo home run in the bottom of the fifth for his fourth home run of the season. Casan Evans followed up Zac Cowan great bullpen outing with a great outing hisself as he went 4 innings 2 hits 0 runs and struck out 6 for his fifth save of the season. Mississippi State hitters struck out 18 times and left 12 runners on base on Friday night.

Saturday: LSU 17 Mississippi State 8

First off I wanna shout out the reporters that stayed at Alex Box Stadium until 4 am to get their articles done (Koki Riley, Isabelle Callahan, John Eads, and Bryce Koon.) First pitch was pushed back from a 2 pm start to a 6:30 start then delayed to a 9:36 first pitch. This game didn't end till 1:44 am. It might have been past some people's bedtime but not the LSU offenses as they jumped all over Karson Ligon for a 8 run 1st inning that featured a Jared Jones two run home run, Ethan Frey two run single, Chris Stanfield RBI single, and lastly a Derek Curiel RBI single. Chase Shores was effective against this Bulldogs lineup he only lasted 4 innings due to taking a comebacker to his left eye. Coach Johnson said he can see again in that eye after getting stitches for it. Connor Ware, Mavrick Rizy, Connor Benge, and Jaden Noot finished it up for the Tigers.

My thoughts:

All in all LSU swept an SEC opponent which is very hard to do but these two teams are going in two different directions. It seems like Mississippi State is struggling to just make the postseason and LSU is going to continue to be in the top 10 of every major College Baseball poll. LSU needs to keep this momentum rolling into Oklahoma and Auburn on the road. The bullpen looked really solid but I think they still need to tie up some loose ends. For instance William Schimdt and Cooper Williams have tremendous potential but have been up and down in their last few outings. We also continue to wait on an injury update about Gavin Guidry who still has not played this season due to his lingering back injuries. The offense will continue to be there I trust this lineup from top to bottom and with whomever playing 3rd base. LSU hosts Louisiana Tech for a midweek contest then will hop on the plane to head to Oklahoma for another Thursday-Friday-Saturday showdown.

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