Ole Miss Drops Game 2 to LSU as Postseason Hopes Grow Dim

The Ole Miss Rebels will not capture 13 conference wins in the regular season after dropping Game 2 against the LSU Tigers on Friday.

The Ole Miss Rebels lost the game and series against the LSU Tigers on Friday afternoon in a 4-2 final score, and their postseason hopes dwindled mightily as a result.

Ole Miss (27-27, 11-18 SEC) was aiming to reach 13 SEC wins this weekend and boost its NCAA Tournament resume, a mark it will now miss after dropping the first two games of play against the Tigers.

Action on Friday began with a bang from LSU as third baseman Tommy Wright hit a solo shot to left to give the Tigers a 1-0 advantage. That lead was extended to two runs in the second inning with an RBI single, and LSU scored two more runs in the fifth (RBI groundout, RBI single) to make its lead 4-0 in the middle portions of the ballgame.

The Rebels offense had shown little life to that point, but second baseman Luke Hill managed to hit a two-run shot to right field to pull Ole Miss back into the game at 4-2 in the sixth. Despite having two men reach base in the eighth inning with no outs, the Rebels were unable to push any other runs across in the loss, leaving five men on base during the game.

LHP Liam Doyle earned the start on the mound for the Rebels, tossing four innings of eight-hit ball and allowing all four runs. He was relieved by Josh Mallitz (1.0 IP), Wes Mendes (2.1 IP) and Connor Spencer (0.2 IP), and Doyle was credited with the loss.

Ole Miss will look to salvage a game from the weekend in Baton Rouge on Saturday as it faces LSU in Game 3 before beginning play in the SEC Tournament next week. First pitch on Saturday is scheduled for 1 p.m. CT, and the game will be televised on SEC Network+.