Mississippi State Takes Game Two Against LSU

BATON ROUGE, La. – With the exception of a second-inning home run by LSU’s Beau Jordan, starting pitcher Ethan Small was absolutely tremendous on the mound, as Mississippi State took game two in an SEC battle with LSU Friday night at Alex Box Stadium. The win ties the series at a game apiece.

State snapped LSU’s seven-game winning streak in the series and improved to 14-14 (2-6 SEC), while LSU fell to 17-11 (4-4 SEC).

Justin Foscue’s homer to left field in the top of the second inning got the Diamond Dawgs on the board first, but the Tigers answered with a second inning home run of their own by Jordan to tie the game at 1-1.

The tie was broken in the fourth inning when Hunter Stovall reached home on a wild pitch to give the Diamond Dawgs a 2-1 lead.

MSU added two more runs , one in the fifth inning after Tanner Poole singled and later scored, and one in the sixth inning when Elijah MacNamee reached via single and later scored on Luke Alexander’s single.

LSU went down in order in the ninth inning, as the Diamond Dawgs won 4-1 and tied the series.

MSU finished with 10 hits and LSU finished with just four hits. Tanner Allen, Hunter Vansau, Alexander and Foscue each had two hits apiece.

Small’s impressive night included eight innings of work, as he earned the win (2-2) and allowed one run on just four hits. He struck out nine batters and walked one.

Cole Gordon struck out a pair of batters in a perfect ninth inning of work for his second save.

Caleb Gilbert was charged with the loss for LSU. He threw 5.1 innings, allowing four runs, two earned, on seven hits. He struck out six batters and walked two.

The Diamond Dawgs and Tigers will play again today, with the series on the line. at Alex Box Stadium with a 2 p.m. CT first pitch on SEC Network+, which can be accessed through WatchESPN.com and the Watch ESPN app.