HOOVER, Ala. — The Mississippi State baseball team crashed out of the Southeastern Conference tournament Friday night with a 12-2 loss to No. 16 LSU.
“You don’t want to lose by 10, just a tough night,” MSU coach Chris Lemonis said. “We just didn’t have things go our way. We could’ve made a couple plays, made a couple pitches, had a better at-bat maybe in some innings to keep it going.”
MSU freshman starter JT Ginn was rocked in 2 1/3 innings of work. After a clean first and second inning — including four strikeouts — Ginn allowed five runs on four hits in the third.
“He was sharp early,” Lemonis said. “Left some balls up and then they just got some momentum going against him.”
The Bulldog bullpen was similarly shaky. Redshirt junior Trysten Barlow, Tyler spring and junior Riley Self and Tyler Spring combined for 1 1/3 innings of relief, allowing seven runs on six hits.
MSU also continued its woeful week at the plate, notching only six hits and two runs on a depleted LSU pitching staff. The Bulldogs finished 2-for-8 with runners in scoring position — moving their total over the past three games to 6-for-41.
Junior Dustin Skelton and sophomore Rowdey Jordan were the lone bright spots in the batter’s box, with each recording two hits apiece.
Freshman reliever Eric Cerantola was also solid in relief, tossing two innings of one-hit ball.
Redshirt junior Spencer Price appeared in just his second game since April 26, allowing just one hit in 1 1/3 innings.
With the loss, MSU now awaits its NCAA Tournament fate. The Bulldogs are all but guaranteed to be a top-eight national seed — securing home field advantage through the super regionals. The NCAA selection show will be broadcast Monday at 11 a.m. on ESPNU.
DAWG NOTES: Senior outfielder Elijah MacNamee is making progress from a foot injury he aggravated May 12 at No. 22 Ole Miss. Lemonis said MacNamee will start swinging a bat Monday in hopes he can return to action in time for next weekend’s regionals.
“All I’ve seen him do is walk,” Lemonis said. “So we’re going to need to watch him a little bit, but I’m praying for the best.”
Ben Portnoy reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @bportnoy15.
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