LSU Baseball Suffers Epic Collapse in Final Two Innings, Lose 10-9 to Ole Miss in Series Finale
LSU was cruising through what looked like was going to be a series sweep. There were two outs in the eighth inning, with the Tigers holding a 9-1 advantage and the game unraveled.
An eight run eighth inning from the Rebels was enough to tie the game and eventually capitalize on the game winning run in the ninth to complete an epic collapse on the purple and gold. Closing games has been kryptonite for this LSU team and it came to an unbelievable, jaw dropping climax Saturday afternoon.
The Rebels scored eight runs on five hits in the eighth and followed it up with a no doubt, crushed home run to start the ninth inning, losing in heartbreaking fashion 10-9 to completely stymie an otherwise positive weekend. Paul Mainieri said he wanted to utilize a number of pitchers in game three, particularly after AJ Labas went the distance on Friday.
After seven solid innings from Will Hellmers, Blake Money and Javen Coleman, the Rebels' bats finally got hot on the freshman Coleman. It looked like the Tigers would get out of the inning unscathed as Coleman would retire two of the first three batters of the inning.
But a walk, three straight hits, including a three-run home run and two more free passes ultimately got the Ole Miss offense cooking. Mainieri then went to closer Garrett Edwards and with the bases loaded, a grand slam from TJ McCants totally stunned the LSU roster and brought the Ole Miss crowd to life. To combat issues, Mainieri was ejected after the grand slam for just the second time in his LSU career, arguing a missed call that McCants struck out.
"I thought it was going to be one of those routine popups that you catch at the track," centerfielder Giovanni DiGiacomo said about the grand slam to tie the game in center. "I guess the wind kind of took over and I tried to get as much of my arm over as I could but there wasn't much I could do."
The offense wasn't able to do much outside of a Brody Drost double in the ninth but a first pitch solo home run in the bottom of the inning put the nail in the coffin of the game, completing the epic comeback for Ole Miss and sent LSU home with an ugly taste in its mouth.
"It's a heartbreaking loss right there," Will Hellmers said. "Tough to stomach right now. It's 27 outs and you gotta play through all 27. We did win the series but a loss like that puts you down for the bus ride back."
The last handful of weeks in conference play, the question around the LSU (24-15, 6-12) offense has been whether it could capitalize with runners in scoring position. It was an area the Tigers struggled with in the game two win over the Rebels until Gavin Dugas' ninth inning grand slam.
Freshman Tre Morgan was 6-for-10 entering the game while Dylan Crews was 4-of-8 as the two had also combined for four RBI entering Saturday's game three. On Saturday, the freshmen had another phenomenal day with Morgan going 2-for-4 with an RBI and Crews adding a hit of his own. Shortstop Jordan Thompson, who had gone 0-for-4 just hours ago, hit an opposite field home run and tacked on two total hits for the contest.
The LSU offense picked up right where it left off as not only were the Tigers capitalizing with runners in scoring position but everyone was contributing. Two outs into the third inning, all but one LSU batter had recorded a hit on starter Drew McDaniel, leading to an early 6-0 lead for the Tigers.
Dugas added a home run to his impressive weekend, Giovanni DiGiacomo added two hits to his solid performance as well. Even Drew Bianco, facing his father's team all weekend, drilled a two RBI single in the third to further stretch the lead. Most importantly, LSU was able to go 4-for-13 with runners in scoring positions on 13 total hits for the afternoon.
The hot start from the hitters also gave starting pitcher Will Hellmers a comfortable lead to work with and the freshman took advantage. Hellmers, who had admittedly struggled throughout his SEC outings, controlled his offspeed pitches and looked the part in his first conference start.
He ran into trouble in the second and third innings by allowing the first two runners to reach base but like his predecessors in Landon Marceaux and Labas were able to do in similar jams, Hellmers forced ground balls that turned into double plays. Hellmers would last three innings, allowing one run and two hits with a strikeout.
LSU will now try to flush this last loss and move forward with another tough SEC series against No. 1 Arkansas in Baton Rouge.
"It's tough, definitely brings guys down a little bit," DiGiacomo said. "I think we fought hard and fought hard the whole series to get a win."