Hogs falter again in Baton Rouge

LSU 7, ARKANSAS 5

BATON ROUGE — Arkansas’ seventh-inning rally came up short before the Razorbacks ultimately fell against LSU in Sunday’s rubber match at Alex Box Stadium.

LSU’s 7-5 victory won the series for the Tigers (28-20, 12-12 Southeastern Conference) and kept the No. 4 Razorbacks (33-15, 14-10) from winning their first series in Baton Rouge since they did it in the old Alex Box Stadium in 2004.

The University of Arkansas, Fayetteville’s SEC-leading offense was slowed through six innings by LSU freshman AJ Labas who allowed just 1 run on freshman designated hitter Heston Kjerstad’s home run in the fifth inning and 4 hits total with no walks while striking out 3.

Arkansas consistently fell behind against Labas and did not have 2-0 count until the

sixth inning. The freshman pitcher had three 1-2-3 innings, and besides Kjerstad’s home run, Arkansas never had a base runner reach second against Labas, who threw first-pitch strikes against 12 of the 14 batters he faced between the second and fifth innings.

“He gets ahead of everybody,” said Arkansas Coach Dave Van Horn. “He’s done it all year long, and we had two or three balls hit hard but we couldn’t get that big hit.”

Labas’ counterpart, sophomore right-hander Isaiah Campbell was able to control the Tigers’ lineup the first three innings.

But after scoring one in the fourth on back-to-back doubles by sophomore center fielder Zach Watson and junior catcher Hunter Feduccia to make it 1-0 before Kjerstad’s home run, LSU’s lineup was nearly unstoppable in the fifth. Campbell gave up four consecutive hits — including two doubles — and two runs before being replaced by sophomore Evan Lee. Campbell’s

finished 41/3 innings by allowing 8 hits and 5 runs allowed with 3 strikeouts.

Lee gave up a sacrifice fly and a single for two more LSU runs. By the time the inning ended, the Tigers had a 5-1 lead.

Labas left the game after the sixth inning and was replaced by sophomore Nick Bush in the seventh.

“Give [Labas] credit,” Van Horn said. “He came out and filled up the zone, and he made us swing the bat.”

With Labas out, the Razorbacks offense were finally able to get something going in the seventh.

A walk and a double led to a two-RBI single by Kjerstad, and a throwing error on a single by junior catcher Grant Koch put he and Kjerstad in scoring position with no outs. They both scored on another fielding error later in the inning to cut LSU’s lead to 6-5.

“We had a chance to put together a pretty big inning, and feel very fortunate to score those next two to get it to one,” Van Horn said. “But we just couldn’t come up with the [big] hit, and they did a good job getting out of some jams.”

LSU added an insurance run in the bottom of the seventh, and sophomore reliever Matthew Beck allowed just a walk to the Razorbacks over the final three innings.

“I made the comment two weeks ago that it’s going down to the last weekend,” said Van Horn, who added that plenty of teams have battled injuries and fatigue that have caused the division race to tighten. “I’m disappointed we didn’t win the series, but the standings are what they are.”

Added LSU Coach Paul Mainieri: “We’re still going to take a run at the Western Division title. That’s what we are shooting for. We are within striking distance.” After its seventh consecutive series loss to LSU in Alex Box Stadium, Arkansas returns to Baum Stadium for a home series against No. 18