STARKVILLE, Miss. – After dominating Mississippi State for the first two games of their three-game series, LSU found themselves on the short end Sunday, as Bulldog pitcher Tanner Brock limited the Tigers to one hit over eight innings and State plated four runs each in the sixth and seventh innings to claim a 13-0 rout in the finale of the Southeastern Conference weekend series at Dudy Noble Field.
The game was the last for Tigers’ coach Skip Bertman at Starkville’s Dudy Noble Field, where he closes his career with a 12-18 mark.
LSU (19-7-1, 6-3) continues its five-game road trip Tuesday night at Natchitoches when they take on Northwestern State at 7 p.m. The game at Brown-Stroud Field, which will be LSU’s first there since 1991, will be televised live by College Sports Southeast (Cable Ch. 18 in Baton Rouge).
The Tigers conclude the trip Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. against Louisiana-Monroe before returning home to host Kentucky beginning Friday.
Not only did LSU miss an opportunity for its first sweep of State (13-9, 5-4 SEC) in Starkville since 1975, but they also fell one game behind Ole Miss (21-6-1, 7-2) in the SEC West, as the Rebels swept Alabama. Tennessee (24-3, 8-1), which swept Kentucky this weekend, continues to lead the SEC overall race by a game over Ole Miss and South Carolina (22-4, 7-2).
Brock (3-1) limited the Tigers to just two walks and a measly second inning single by Aaron Hill, as he retired the side in order in four of the eight innings he worked. The Tigers had their fewest number of hits since getting only two in a 16-1 loss at Arkansas on May 4, 1997.
State got all the runs they would need when they scored twice in the second. Walks to Steve Gendron and Chad Henry set up Casey Jones, who singled home Gendron. Henry later scored when Jason Burkley drew a bases-loaded walk from Shane Youman (2-2), a free pass that forced the LSU starter from the game after walking four in just 1 2/3 innings.
Tiger reliever Jason Scobie got out of a bases-loaded jam in the third, but he wasn’t as fortunate in the fourth, yielding a double to Jason Burkley and a two-out RBI single to Brent Lewis to put State ahead 3-0.
State began its onslaught in the sixth, as the Bulldogs batted around. With the bases loaded, Gendron’s infield single scored Burkley, and two batters later, a two-run single by Josh West made it 7-0. Matt Maniscalco then greeted LSU reliever Justin Hill with another base hit to score Henry to extend the score to 8-0.
The Tigers’ nightmare continued in the seventh, as the Bulldogs batted around yet again. Matthew Brinson singled home Jon Knott with the inning’s first run, and after Gendron walked, Justin Hill was replaced by Weylin Guidry, who uncorked a wild pitch to score Henry, and West followed with another RBI single to make it 11-0.
Tim Nugent, the Tigers’ seventh pitcher of the game, gave up the Bulldogs’ sixth home run of the season in the eighth to Enrico Jones.