No. 2 LSU Rallies To Edge Mississippi State In Series Opener, 5-4

Thursday, May 14

Starkville

6:30 PM

Mississippi State

24-28, 8-19

LSU

40-14, 19-9

LSU

Mississippi State

State Drops Series Finale To Gamecocks, 14-2

No. 2 LSU Rallies To Edge Mississippi State In Series Opener, 5-4

May 14, 2009 | Baseball

Box Score

By: hailstate.com

? Official Statistics
? Official Statistics (PDF)

STARKVILLE, Miss. - Mississippi State could not hold a late lead Thursday night, falling to second-ranked LSU 5-4 in a Southeastern Conference baseball game at Dudy Noble Field.

The Bulldogs opened the final weekend series of the 2009 regular season on a down note. MSU actually led 4-1 before the visiting Tigers struck for three runs in the seventh inning and pushed across the game-winner in the eighth inning.

With the victory, LSU maintained sole possession of first place in the overall conference standings. The Tigers improved to 40-14 and 19-9 in conference play. LSU maintains a one-game lead over both Ole Miss in the Western Division race and Florida in the overall race. Both of those teams also won Thursday night. Meanwhile, MSU fell to 24-28 and 8-19.

The Bulldogs battled back from an early 1-0 deficit by scoring once in the second inning and three times in the third inning. MSU threatened to do more early, leaving the bases loaded in the first inning and stranding two more runners in the second inning.

In the MSU second inning, Frank Rawdow drew a two-out walk. Grant Hogue and Ryan Collins followed with back-to-back hits, with Collins driving in Rawdow.

An inning later, Ryan Duffy hit a double to right field to start the fireworks. Connor Powers drew a walk. After a sacrifice bunt moved both runners, Russ Sneed followed with an RBI-single through the left side of the infield. A Jet Butler RBI-single moved the lead to 3-1. Rawdow then connected for a sacrifice-fly. The fly ball scored Sneed but Butler was retired trying to take second base to the end the inning.

From there, LSU starter Anthony Ranaudo (7-3) settled down, throwing four straight scoreless innings before being lifted after a leadoff strikeout in the eighth inning. Ranaudo, a sophomore right-hander, threw 128 pitches in 7-1/3 innings, allowing six hits and four runs (all earned), with six strikeouts and five walks. Matty Ott worked around three base runners to collect his 12th save of the season.

MSU starter Tyler Whitney also had a quality start. The MSU junior left-hander was lifted after back-to-back hits to lead off the seventh inning. Whitney worked six-plus innings, allowing five hits and three runs (all earned), with two strikeouts and four walks. Lee Swindle faced three batters but managed only one out, while Chad Crosswhite (0-4) worked the final 2-1/3 innings and took the defeat.

In the LSU seventh inning, a Swindle was touched for a two-run double by Austin Nola and a game-tying RBI-single by Mikie Mahtook. In the eighth inning, Crosswhite wild pitched Jared Mitchell home with two outs for the eventual game-winning run. Mitchell had reached with a one-out double.

MSU finished with nine hits. Duffy, Sneed and Butler had multiple hits, while Scott DeLoach ran his hit streak to 11 games.

LSU finished with 10 hits. Mahtook, D.J. LeMahieu and Nola each had mutiple hits for the Tigers.

The series resumes with a 6:30 p.m. start Friday night. LSU is scheduled to start senior right-handed pitcher Louis Coleman (10-2, 2.45 ERA), while MSU is scheduled to start freshman left-handed pitcher Nick Routt (5-3, 3.89 ERA). The Bulldogs close the season with a 2 p.m. start on Saturday. Nine MSU seniors will be honored during pre-game ceremonies on Saturday.