LSU Tigers complete sweep of Bulldogs
Tigers defeat Bulldogs to claim share of SEC title on the day that Dudy Noble Field was celebrated
Saturday was far from the day Mississippi State originally drew it up to be.
Nothing went exactly right. Storms caused the groundbreaking ceremony of the new Dudy Noble Field to be pushed back to a later date. Those same rains dampened a pregame celebration paying tribute to the history of the current facility and delayed the day’s first pitch over three hours.
Once baseball was finally played, things only got worse for the Bulldogs.
LSU unleashed an offensive onslaught and pounded MSU 11-7 to complete a three-game sweep. The win also gave LSU (39-17, 21-9) a share of the overall Southeastern Conference championship, along with Florida.
MSU (34-22, 17-13) saw its SEC losing streak reach five games.
“Obviously the weekend didn’t go how we wanted it to,” Mississippi State head coach Andy Cannizaro said. “LSU is outstanding. I think they are the best team in America right now. They are a veteran team that knows how to win. They don’t give games away. They make you stand out on the field for nine innings and beat them.”
LSU partly spoiled what was supposed to be a special day on campus at MSU. Barring an unlikely NCAA Tournament hosting chance, Saturday was the final game on the Bulldogs’ home field as it is currently
constructed. The marketing staff handed out posters to commemorate Dudy Noble Field and T-shirts honoring legendary Bulldog Boo Ferriss. That’s where the fun ended for anyone supporting the maroon and white though.
“We wish obviously the last weekend at this awesome stadium could have gone a little differently,” MSU’s Brent Rooker said.
No one, not even State’s best bullpen arms, could slow down the Tigers much. LSU struck for four second-inning runs against MSU starting pitcher Cole Gordon to get things going, then after the Bulldogs battled back to tie the game over the next two innings, MSU relievers Riley Self and Spencer Price both found struggles of their own.
Self allowed six hits and four runs over two innings. Price surrendered just one unearned run in his 1 2/3 innings, but allowed a pair of runners inherited from Self to score on a single and a bases-loaded walk.
Down 9-4 after five and a half innings, Mississippi State did put up a fight. The Bulldogs rallied for three runs in the sixth to cut their deficit to 9-7 after Rooker’s RBI double and Jake Mangum’s two-run single. It marked the second time in the game State had fought back after erasing its earlier four-run deficit completely with a Ryan Gridley two-run double in the second and Hunter Stovall’s two-run homer in the third. The latter time though, State couldn’t completely climb out of its hole.
LSU solidified its win with add-on runs in the seventh and eighth innings. Meanwhile MSU’s bats fell silent. The Bulldogs were held hitless over the game’s final three frames.
Hunter Vansau struck out swinging to close the final chapter on this edition of Dudy Noble Field with LSU celebrating a championship while MSU looked on. It wasn’t how the Bulldogs drew it up, but there was still a silver lining according to Rooker.
“It was a disappointing three days for sure, but we’ve put ourselves in position to get in the SEC Tournament and make a run there, then hopefully get into a regional,” Rooker said.
MSU will begin play in the SEC Tournament on Tuesday night at approximately 8 p.m. against Georgia. State enters the event as the No. 5 seed and must win on Tuesday to enter the double-elimination portion of the tournament.
After a sour weekend, Cannizaro is ready to hit the field again at the tournament and put the last three days in the past.
“Do I wish this weekend would have went differently? Absolutely,” Cannizaro said. “Unfortunately, we fell short, but that’s our goal, to go build our team the way we need to build it to beat (teams like LSU). That’s what we’re going to do.”