The Schedule Update: LSU Baseball vs. Mississippi State Bulldogs Game 2 Start Time

Jay Johnson and the No. 5 ranked LSU Tigers battled back from an early deficit on Thursday night against the Mississippi State Bulldogs to capture a Game 1 victory in Alex Box Stadium.

A three-run homer by second baseman Daniel Dickinson and a two-run blast by shortstop Steven Milam highlighted LSU’s five-run fifth, as the Tigers grabbed a 7-6 lead.

LSU right-hander Zac Cowan pitched brilliantly over the final 4.0 innings, blanking the Bulldogs on just one hit to earn his third save of the season. Cowan recorded no walks and seven strikeouts while firing 59 pitches.

“I’m proud of the team,” said LSU coach Jay Johnson. “One of our sayings is ‘there’s no clock in baseball,’ and that was a good thing for tonight, down 6-2. Our guys just stayed with it, and I’m proud of them for that. We had some really good at-bats with some walks there in the middle of the game and really big homers by Danny and Steven.

“We turned it over to Zac, and he just did what he does every time out. The guy is a strike machine, and his fastball, slider and change are elite. He tunnels the ball really well, so every pitch looks the same coming out of his hand. We’re really glad he’s on our team, and you’re not going to find a better person than Zac.”

Now, all focus shifts towards Friday's Game 2.

The Preview: Mississippi State Bulldogs (16-10, 1-6 SEC) at No. 5 LSU Tigers (24-3, 5-2 SEC)

DATES/TIMES
• Friday, March 28 at 9:05 p.m. CT.
STADIUM
• Alex Box Stadium, Skip Bertman Field in Baton Rouge, La. (10,718)
RANKINGS
• LSU – No. 5 Baseball America; No. 6 USA Today; No. 8 D1 Baseball
• MSU – unranked
RADIO
• LSU Sports Radio Network affiliates
• Live audio at www.LSUsports.net/live; Live stats at www.LSUstats.com
TV/ONLINE
• Friday and Saturday games will be streamed live on SEC Network +

Friday's Pitching Matchup:

LSU – Jr. RH Anthony Eyanson (3-0, 4.50 ERA, 32.0 IP, 8 BB, 46 SO)
MSU – Sr. LH Pico Kohn (4-0, 2.52 ERA, 35.2 IP, 7 BB, 53 SO)

Scouting the Bulldogs:

• The Bulldogs are 16-10 this season, 1-6 in the SEC … MSU opened conference play March 14-16 by dropping three games to Texas in Starkville, Miss., and the Bulldogs lost two of three games at Oklahoma last weekend.

• MSU is No. 5 in the SEC in team batting average (.314), and the Bulldogs have collected 55 doubles, four triples, 38 homers and 32 steals in 36 attempts … the Bulldogs’ pitching staff is No. 4 in the league with a 3.39 ERA and it has recorded 291 strikeouts in 207.0 innings.

• The Bulldogs’ lineup includes designated hitter Noah Sullivan, who is hitting .395 with eight doubles, four homers and 22 RBI … infielder Ace Reese leads MSU in doubles (8), homers (8) and RBI (34).

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