No. 3 Bulldogs fall 8-3 in series finale at No. 13 LSU

BATON ROUGE, La. — After winning the first two games against No. 13 LSU, the No. 3 Mississippi State baseball team dropped the series finale 8-3 Sunday afternoon at Alex Box Stadium.

The Bulldogs (16-4, 2-1 SEC) were outhit by the Tigers (16-5, 1-2 SEC) by a 7-6 margin. Sophomore Kamren James led MSU with three hits and an RBI, while senior Tanner Allen was 1-for-2 with two RBIs and a run scored.

Junior right-hander Eric Cerantola got the start on the mound and allowed two runs on zero hits with two walks and a strikeout. Senior righty Chase Patrick got the final two outs of the second inning.

Right-handed freshman Jackson Fristoe (2-1) was charged with the loss for the Bulldogs after allowing one run on three hits with six strikeouts and two walks in four innings of work.

Right-handed graduate student Carlisle Koestler pitched two-thirds of the seventh and surrendered three runs on three hits. Junior righty Parker Stinnett then allowed two runs on one hit with two strikeouts and two walks in 1 ¹⁄₃ innings pitched.

Right-handed redshirt junior pitcher AJ Labas (1-0) earned the win for the Tigers after allowing two runs on four hits with three strikeouts and one walk in six innings.

The Bulldogs took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning when Allen was hit by a pitch, stole second and scored on James’ single up the middle. The Tigers responded with two runs in the bottom half to take a 2-1 lead. Freshman Tre‘ Morgan drew a leadoff walk and stole second. After a walk, freshman Dylan Crews reached on a fielder’s choice to put runners on the corners. A wild pitch scored Morgan before another wild pitch moved Crews to third. He wound up scoring on a groundout to give LSU the lead.

In the third inning, graduate student Scotty Dubrule doubled and scored on Allen’s sacrifice fly to make it a 2-2 ballgame.

LSU regained the lead in the bottom of the sixth when junior Gavin Dugas homered to left field to make it 3-2.

An RBI double from Morgan and a two-run home run from freshman Brody Drost increased the LSU lead to 6-2 in the bottom of the seventh inning.

Allen’s RBI single in the eighth inning made it 6-3 before LSU ended the game’s scoring at 8-3 in the bottom half on freshman Jordan Thompson’s two-RBI double to right-center.

The Bulldogs return to action Tuesday when they host North Alabama at 6:30 p.m. CT at Dudy Noble Field. It can be watched on SEC Network+.