MSU Baseball Edges No. 1 LSU In 12 Innings

STARKVILLE, Miss. (MSU Athletics) – Seth Heck’s RBI-single in the home half of the 12th inning lifted the Mississippi State baseball team to its second victory against a top-ranked team this season.

After letting a three-run lead slip away in the ninth inning, MSU regrouped for an 8-7 victory versus No. 1 LSU Saturday in the final game of a three-game Southeastern Conference series at Dudy Noble Field.

The MSU senior class closed their playing career at Dudy Noble Field with a critical win, keeping the squad alive in the hunt for a berth in the Southeastern Conference Tournament field.

MSU improved to 24-24 overall and 8-16 in league play. LSU fell to 40-7 and 16-6.

“Really happy to win this game,” MSU head coach John Cohen said. “For about three weeks now, these kids have really been needing something good to happen to them. It was not a perfect game, but we kept battling. I am really proud of the effort throughout the weekend. We really competed.”

MSU built an early 2-0 lead on a two-run single by Reid Humphreys in the first inning.

LSU battled back for a 3-2 lead with two runs in the second inning and another score in the third inning.

MSU then followed with a two-run fourth inning. A two-run single by Wes Rea gave the Bulldogs a 4-3 lead.

LSU pulled even again before Gavin Collins’ second home run of the year gave MSU a 5-4 lead.

Two critical insurance scores were plated in the eighth inning when Luke Reynolds andJohn Holland had back-to-back two-out RBI-singles.

In a stellar final performance at Dudy Noble, Ross Mitchell worked 4.1 innings and appeared to have things in cruise control until the ninth inning. With two outs and nobody on base, LSU put together three runs on three hits after the Bulldogs’ only error opened the door.

Things stayed even until the 12th inning when Jake Vickerson hit a double to right with one out and scored on the game-winner by Heck.

MSU finished with 13 hits. Vickerson had three hits, while Holland had two hits.

LSU finished with 15 hits. Chase Chinea had four hits and four RBIs, while Conner Hale had three hits. Mark Laird, Alex Bregman and Kade Scivicque each had two hits.

Dakota Hudson (1-0) pitched a perfect 12th inning to earn the win. Zac Houston was again strong with 2.1 innings of three-hit shutout relief. Austin Sexton drew the start.

Parker Bugg (0-2) took the loss for LSU.

MSU returns to conference action next weekend with a three-game series at Ole Miss, The Bulldogs and Rebels are set for 7:30 p.m. Thursday, 6 p.m. Friday and 4 p.m. Saturday. All three games will be shown nationally on the SEC Network.