OXFORD, Miss. — Ole Miss took advantage of three LSU errors and nine walks as the Rebels got their first Southeastern Conference victory of the season with a 9-3 victory Friday night at frigid Swayze Field.
The Fighting Tigers (14-10, 1-3 SEC) have now lost four games in a row for the first time since Feb. 20-27, 2000, when the Tigers dropped five in a row (one each to Arizona St. and McNeese St., plus a three-game sweep at the hands of Houston). LSU has now also lost eight of its last 10 regular-season conference games.
The Rebels (15-6, 1-3) will try to win the series Saturday at 1:30 p.m.
It would be just the fourth series win for Ole Miss over LSU since 1984, as the Tigers are 49-15 against the Rebels in that time.
The Tigers quickly dug themselves an early hole, as the Rebels scored three runs in each of the first two innings and gained a 6-1 lead.
Burney Hutchinson became Ole Miss’ first baserunner with a one-out single, then walks to Shane Smith and Bryce Morrison loaded the bases, and Chad Sterbens came through with a two-run single to score Smith and Hutchinson.
LSU pitcher Bo Pettit struck out Drew Rogers for the second out, but he gave up a double to Josh Christian to score Morrison and fall behind 3-0.
The Tigers got their only run of the first eight innings in the top of the second when Matt Heath stole third and came home when Charlie Waite’s throw sailed into left field. Heath reached on a leadoff walk and went to second on Blake Gill’s ground ball.
Pettit, who threw a complete game, four-hit shutout last Friday against Vanderbilt, quickly found himself in trouble in the second as Waite led off with a base hit and Farrar doubled before Hutchinson walked to again load the bases.
The Rebels would get a run on a ground ball to short by Smith, but Aaron Hill bobbled the throw trying to turn the double play, leaving all runners safe and Ole Miss with a 4-1 lead.
The error would be deadly, because Pettit struck out Morrison and got Sterbens to foul out, but Ole Miss would score the runs on Rogers’ two-run single.
Pettit (2-3) went 4 1/3 innings and gave up eight runs (four earned) on seven hits and a career-high eight walks. The nine walks allowed by the Tigers as a team are the most since giving up 10 last year at Northwestern St.
LSU would yield two more unearned runs in the fourth, as an error by Wally Pontiff opened the door for Christian’s two-run double, his second of the night. For the season, LSU has now committed 49 errors and yielded 42 unearned runs.
The score could have been much worse had Ole Miss not stranded 14 runners on base, as the Rebels had a baserunner in every inning except the seventh.
The Tigers got two runs in the ninth off of Ole Miss pitcher J.R. Pickens (4-1) on J.C. Holt’s two-run triple. Pickens threw his first career complete game, giving up just one unearned run and striking out eight.