BATON ROUGE — Southern Miss erased a 2-1 deficit with three runs in fifth, and three Golden Eagles’ pitchers limited LSU to five hits Sunday as the Tigers dropped the series finale, 5-3, at Alex Box Stadium.
LSU (11-7) saw its four-game winning streak come to an end after taking the first two games of the series. The Tigers scored a season-high 15 runs on Saturday but were held to three runs on Sunday and recorded one extra-base hit on a solo homer by first baseman Jordan Mayer.
USM (12-4) pounded out 13 hits against six LSU pitchers while committing no errors. Only two of the Golden Eagles’ five runs were earned.
LSU plays host to McNeese State at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday before traveling to No. 2 South Carolina to open Southeastern Conference play next weekend.
Live audio, live stats and streaming video of Tuesday night’s contest are available to members of the Geaux Zone on www.LSUsports.net.
Mayer went 2-for-4 with two runs and his second homer of the season. Shortstop Michael Hollander added an RBI single.
USM first baseman Trey Sutton led the Eagles’ attack, going 3-for-5 with a run and an RBI.
Junior right-hander David Clark (2-1) stymied the LSU offense, allowing only four hits and three runs in 7.2 innings of work. Clark kept the Tiger hitters off balance all game while walking three and striking out two.
“It’s a little frustrating,” said LSU coach Paul Mainieri. “When you are trying to bring the program back to where it was it seems like we take two steps forward and one step back. I think we are improving. I think we have improved in a lot of ways. I don’t think we played a terrible game today.”
LSU freshman right-hander T.J. Forrest did not figure in the decision with a three-inning start. Forrest, who qualified for the win at Centenary on Tuesday, was on a limited pitch count due to the Tommy John surgery he underwent last April.
USM scored in the first for the third straight game on a two-out RBI double from left fielder Luke Adkins. The hit brought home third baseman James Ewing, who singled and took second on a wild pitch.
Mayer tied the score at 1-1 in the third with a towering, leadoff homer over the left field bleachers, and the Tigers took a one-run lead an inning later without the benefit of a hit. Left fielder Blake Dean walked to start the frame and stole second. Dean then took third on a groundout and scored on a wild pitch.
Forrest finished his outing after three innings, scattering six hits and allowing one run while walking none and striking out three. He fought through trouble in the third when right fielder Steven Waguespack threw out a runner at home to end the frame.
Robert Lara, who has been a catcher for the Tigers, took over for Forrest on the mound in the fourth. Lara made his first pitching appearance since high school in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
“(Lara’s) high school coach was here last weekend, and I asked him if he pitched,” said Mainieri. “He said yeah, he pitched in high school and did a pretty good job. We let him throw a few bullpens this week, and I thought he looked pretty good. We don’t have a lot of power arms in the bullpen.”
The Golden Eagles erased the deficit and took a 4-2 lead in the fifth with three unearned runs after an error by second baseman Chris Jackson. Lara issued back-to-back singles with one out, but reliever Paul Bertuccini looked to have escaped the jam on a ground ball to Jackson.
Jackson, however, allowed the ball to roll under his legs and into the outfield, which scored first baseman Trey Sutton. USM capitalized on the miscue when left-hander Kyle Beerbohm allowed a bloop, two-run single to second baseman Bailey Hartel in front of Waguespack in right field.
“We pitched well enough to win,” said Mainieri. “The problem was in one inning we don’t make two plays. We get a double-play ball that would have ended the inning, but it goes through Chris Jackson‘s legs.”
LSU cut into the deficit in its half of the fifth on an RBI single by Hollander, but USM got the run back in the top of the eighth on a run-scoring hit from Sutton down the left field line. The run was charged to right-hander Nolan Cain, who allowed two walks before yielding the mound to Louis Coleman.
The Tigers were presented with their best scoring threat of the game in the bottom of the eighth. Centerfielder Jared Mitchell and left fielder Blake Dean singled, and catcher Sean Ochinko walked. Needing a timely, two-out hit, Waguespack grounded out to second to leave the bases loaded.
Senior closer Patrick Ezell retired all three LSU batters he faced in the ninth to record his fifth save.
Lara (0-1) was charged with the loss, allowing two runs — none earned — on two hits in 1.1 innings of relief.
Southern Mississippi 5, LSU 3 (Mar 11, 2007 at Baton Rouge, La.)
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Southern Mississippi 100 030 010 – 5 13 0 (12-4)
LSU…………………… 001 110 000 – 3 5 2 (11-7)
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Pitchers: Southern Mississippi – David Clark; Tyler Conn(8); Patrick Ezell(9).
LSU – T.J. Forrest; Robert Lara(4); Paul Bertuccini(5); Kyle Beerbohm(5); Nolan Cain(7); Louis Coleman(8).
Win-David Clark(2-1) Save-Patrick Ezell(5) Loss-Robert Lara(0-1) T-2:50 A-7433
HR LSU – Jordan Mayer (2).
Actual attendance: 3,121
Bertuccini faced 1 batter in the 5th.
LSU Baseball Report ? March 12, 2007
Overall Record: 11-7
Last Week: 3-1
March 6 ? at Centenary (W, 2-1)
March 9 ? SOUTHERN MISS (W, 2-1)
March 10 ? SOUTHERN MISS (W, 15-8)
March 11 ? SOUTHERN MISS (L, 3-5)
Nominee for PITCHER of the Week
Charlie Furbush, LHP, Jr., South Portland, Maine
Junior left-hander Charlie Furbush led LSU to a 2-1 victory over Southern Miss on Friday, limiting the Golden Eagles to one unearned run on just three hits in eight innings of work . . . Furbush recorded five strikeouts, and he did not walk a batter . . . only one Southern Miss runner advanced beyond first base against Furbush . . . he improved his record to 3-1 on the year with a 2.61 ERA . . . in 31 innings, Furbush has recorded 28 strikeouts and 11 walks and opponents are batting .246 against him.
Notes on the Tigers
LSU won three of its four games last week, including a 2-1 series victory over Southern Mississippi, which entered the series with a No. 26 national ranking . . . Junior left-hander Charlie Furbush led LSU to a 2-1 victory over Southern Miss on Friday, limiting the Golden Eagles to one unearned run on just three hits in eight innings of work . . . Furbush recorded five strikeouts, and he did not walk a batter . . . only one Southern Miss runner advanced beyond first base against Furbush . . . he improved his record to 3-1 on the year with a 2.61 ERA . . . in 31 innings, Furbush has recorded 28 strikeouts and 11 walks and opponents are batting .246 against him . . . junior shortstop Michael Hollander helped lead the Tigers to the series win over USM, batting .444 (4-for-9) with six RBI and one run . . . Hollander recorded a career-high five RBI in LSU’s 15-8 win over the Golden Eagles on Saturday . . . junior first baseman Jordan Mayer hit .500 (4-for-8) in the USM series with one triple, one homer, two RBI and five runs . . . true freshman right-hander T.J. Forrest made his collegiate debut in Tuesday’s 2-1 victory at Centenary, allowing one hit in three shutout innings with one walk and four strikeouts . . . Forrest pitched just 11 months after undergoing Tommy John surgery on his right elbow last April . . . junior right-hander Jared Bradford improved his record to 3-1 with a win over Southern Miss on Saturday . . . Bradford, selected as a Louisville Slugger National Player of the Week on March 5, limited the Golden Eagles to three earned runs on eight hits in 5.2 innings with three walks and two strikeouts . . . Bradford has a team-best 2.51 ERA and has recorded five walks and 28 strikeouts in 28.2 innings . . . opponents are batting just .204 against Bradford . . . sophomore right-hander Louis Coleman earned two saves last week in three relief appearances . . . Coleman fired five shutout innings in three games, allowing just three hits with one walk and six strikeouts.