BATON ROUGE — Aaron Hill went 4-for-5 and was a triple short of the cycle, while Jake Tompkins pitched out of a bases-loaded jam in the seventh inning as LSU evened its Southeastern Conference series with Mississippi State by taking a 7-3 victory Saturday at Alex Box Stadium.
The Tigers (17-12, 3-5) and Bulldogs (14-9-1, 4-4) will play the rubber game Easter Sunday at 1 p.m., and the game will be televised in Baton Rouge on a tape-delay basis by Cox Cable Channel 4 starting at 7 p.m.
MSU cut the LSU lead to 4-3 in the seventh on Matthew Brinson’s two-run home run, and back-to-back singles by Brent Lewis and Casey Long put two runners on, then LSU hurler Lane Mestepey hit J.B. Tucker to load the bases.
Mestepey struck out Jon Mungle, then Tompkins, normally the Tigers’ Sunday starter, came in and stranded all three Bulldog runners by fanning Matthew Maniscalco and getting Chad Henry to fly to center.
LSU then put the game away with three runs in the eighth inning, scoring one on Hill’s second double of the game and two more on a double by Wally Pontiff.
Tompkins struck out four over 2 2/3 innings to earn his first save of the season, while Mestepey improved to 5-2, walking none over 6 1/3 innings.
LSU got started quickly with a two-run first inning, as J.C. Holt led off with a single and reached second when left fielder Jon Mungle overran the ball. The error made no difference, as Hill launched a two-run homer into the left field bleachers, his first round-tripper since last April 22 against Vanderbilt.
The score held through the fourth inning, as LSU pitcher Lane Mestepey retired 11 of the first 12 batters he faced, allowing only a first-inning single to Chad Henry, who was promptly caught in a rundown, allowing the Tiger southpaw to face the minimum number of batters through four.
Brinson’s fourth double of the series got MSU started in the fifth, and an RBI single by Brent Lewis cut the Tiger lead to 2-1, but the Bulldogs missed an opportunity to tie when J.B. Tucker lined into an inning-ending double play.
LSU would recover the run in the fifth on Hill’s double, then take increase its edge to 4-1 in the sixth on Eric Wiethorn’s leadoff home run.