Mississippi State
25-29, 9-20
LSU
41-15, 20-10
Mississippi State Drops Season Finale To Second-Ranked Tigers
May 16, 2009 | Baseball
? Official Statistics
? Official Statistics (PDF)
STARKVILLE, Miss. - Mississippi State dropped its regular season-ending baseball game, falling 15-4 to second-ranked LSU on another rain-plagued Saturday afternoon at Dudy Noble Field.
With the victory, LSU clinched a share of the overall conference championship. The Tigers also took the weekend series and finish the season winning nine of 10 league series. LSU will have the top seed when SEC Tournament play begins Wednesday in Hoover, Ala. Record-wise, LSU enters postseason at 41-15 overall and 20-10 league play, while MSU finishes its season at 25-29 and 9-20.
On Saturday afternoon, LSU raced to a 6-0 lead with a single score in the first inning and five more runs in the second inning.
Lightning and heavy rains forced a two-hour delay after two complete innings of play.
When play resume, the Tigers sprinted to a 10-2 advantage, only to have MSU cut back into the lead with two scores in the fifth inning. The Tigers then put the contest away with five more scores in the eighth inning.
“I am really proud of the seniors and appreciate their efforts,” MSU head coach John Cohen said. “I'm sorry, the final game could not have gone better. This weekend, we had a very competitive series against an outstanding ball club.”
Left fielder Leon L andry had a monster day for the Tigers, becoming the first Tiger in three seasons to hit three home runs in a game. Landry finished with five of his team's 23 hits and also drove in seven runs. Both of those marks are career highs.
For LSU, the 23 hits set a new season high. Ryan Schimpf had four hits, while Jared Mitchell had three hits. Blake Dean, Tyler Hanover and Micah Gibbs had multiple hits. A three-run home run by Dean - his 14th of the year - highlighted the five-run second inning.
MSU finished with eight hits. Connor Powers had multiple hits, while Scott DeLoach had a single, rounding out his Bulldog career on a 13-game hit streak.
Starting pitcher Devin Jones (0-4) worked two innings and took the loss. Jones allowed seven hits and six runs (all earned), with one strikeout and two walks. Justin Bussey, Ricky Bowen and Caleb Reed all followed in relief.
Nolan Cain (4-0) was the second of four LSU pitchers used and earned the win. Cain worked three innings, allowing five hits and three runs (all earned), with no walks and no strikeouts. Starter Austin Ross pitched two innings. Daniel Bradshaw worked three innings of no-hit, shutout relief, while Buzzy Haydel did the same in the ninth inning.
The Bulldogs captured an 8-7 win on senior night Friday night. Prior to that contest, MSU recognized senior players Johnny Allen, Brooks Lewis, Chad Crosswhite, Scott DeLoach, Mark Gofor th, Nick Hardy, Grant Hogue, Lee Swindle and Jared Wesson. LSU won the series opener, 5-4 on Thursday night.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Cain (4-0)
L: Jones, Devin (0-4)
Batting:
2B: Schimpf 1 ; Dean 1
3B: Mitchell 1
HR: Landry 3 ; Dean 1
RBI: Landry 7 ; Schimpf 2 ; Dean 4 ; Mitchell 1 ; LeMahieu 1
SF: LeMahieu 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Landry 3 ; Schimpf 2 ; Dean 1 ; Mahtook 1 ; Mitchell 1 ; Hanover 3 ; Gibbs 2 ; Nola 2
SB: Mitchell 2
CS: Schimpf 2
PO: Landry 1
Batting:
2B: Collins, Ryan 1 ; Powers, Connor 1
RBI: Collins, Ryan 1 ; Duffy, Ryan 1 ; Powers, Connor 1
SF: Duffy, Ryan 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Hogue, Grant 1 ; Collins, Ryan 1 ; DeLoach, Scott 1 ; Duffy, Ryan 1
