Ole Miss' bats stay cold as LSU clinches series
LSU starter Luke Holman held Ole Miss to one hit through the first five innings and struck out nine batters overall as the Tigers took Friday’s game against the Rebels 4-2 at Alex Box Stadium. The win secured the series for the Tigers for the second-straight season.
The game was moved up from its original start time of 6:30 p.m. due to poor weather conditions expected in the area.
Ole Miss (27-27, 11-18 SEC) sophomore second baseman Luke Hill’s two-run home run in the sixth ended Holman’s shutout attempt. The Alabama transfer gave up five hits over 6.2 innings and did not walk a batter.
The Rebels were 0 for 4 with runners in scoring position in the game. Ole Miss batters struck out 12 times and have struck out 25 times through two games in the series.
“(Holman is) good. It’s tough,” Ole Miss head coach Mike Bianco said. “ … Just a really good mix of three pitches. He throws both the curveball and slider … and the fastball can get sneaky, even though it’s not lighting up the scoreboard.”
Coming off a three-hit game Thursday night, LSU (35-20, 12-17) star Tommy White picked up right where he left off in Game 2 with a solo home run in the bottom of the first off sophomore Liam Doyle. LSU scored another run with two outs in the second via Steven Milam’s RBI single.
Sophomore third baseman Andrew Fischer’s infield single in the fourth inning was Ole Miss’ first baserunner of the afternoon, though he was ultimately stranded at first base. White’s fifth-inning double put runners on second and third and knocked Doyle out of the game. Junior Josh Mallitz entered in his place, and Doyle’s two baserunners wound up scoring on a groundout and a single.
Doyle pitched four innings, gave up four earned runs and struck out four batters without a walk.
Junior catcher Eli Berch’s single in the sixth was Ole Miss’ second hit, and Hill hit a home run to deep right field to cut the Tigers’ lead in half. LSU loaded the bases in the bottom of the inning, but freshman Wes Mendes struck out White and Jared Jones to end the frame.
“Credit (Mendes). He’s really pitched it well here down the stretch, and we’ve needed every one of those pitches. And we did today,” Bianco said. “He kept them at bay … Wes was really good.”
Ole Miss freshman designated hitter Campbell Smithwick and junior right fielder Treyson Hughes hit back-to-back singles with two outs in the seventh, bringing freshman shortstop Brayden Randle to the plate as the go-ahead run. Randle struck out swinging to end the inning. After a scoreless seventh from Mendes, freshman pinch hitter Trenton Lyons and Hill led off the eighth with a single and a walk, respectively. LSU’s Griffin Herring entered the game and recorded two strikeouts and a groundout to get the Tigers out of the jam.
Mendes pitched 2.1 scoreless innings, striking out four batters and walking two. White finished went 3 for 4 and has six hits in the series.
Ole Miss and LSU conclude their three-game series Saturday at 1 p.m. The game will be broadcast on SEC Network+.
“You have one to go. That’s it,” Bianco said. “You can sit here and feel sorry for yourselves, or you can wake up tomorrow and win a baseball game and get 12 (SEC) … wins and be tied with them and get to the conference tournament and win some baseball games. But, we have to do more. That’s not a secret. But yeah, you have to show up tomorrow ready to play.”
