State Takes Game Two, Evens Series At No. 19 LSU

Friday, March 30

Baton Rouge, La.

7:00 PM

Mississippi State

14-14, 2-6

#19 LSU

17-11, 4-4

Mississippi State

LSU

Justin Foscue's second-inning homer was one of State's 10 hits on Friday night.

Photo by: Nicole Reighter

State Takes Game Two, Evens Series At No. 19 LSU

March 30, 2018 | Baseball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

BATON ROUGE, La. – Sophomore left-hander Ethan Small had quite a Good Friday for Mississippi State Friday night.

Small pitched a career-high eight innings, allowing four hits and one run as MSU beat LSU 4-1 in Southeastern Conference baseball action at Alex Box Stadium.

MSU improved to 14-14 overall and 2-6 in league play, while LSU fell to 17-11 and 4-4.

"We had a lot of contributors tonight," MSU head coach Gary Henderson said. "Ethan Small was brilliant and Cole Gordon was the best he has been all year. We had some really great defensive plays in the field.

"The bottom of the third inning was big. After LSU tied the game, Ethan came back out and got the game under control. We had the leadoff man on in three of the four innings we scored. It's amazing how much that helps."

With the exception of a second-inning home run by Beau Jordan, Small (2-2) was dominant. He struck out nine and walked just one in his longest outing as a Bulldog. Cole Gordon struck out a pair in a perfect ninth inning of work for his second save.

MSU struck first in the top half of the second inning on a solo home run by Justin Foscue.

In the fourth inning, Tanner Allen and Hunter Vansau had hits but the at-bat only mustered one run on a wild pitch. In the fifth inning, Tanner Poole singled and later scored on a passed ball.

In the sixth inning, Elijah MacNamee and Foscue each had hit hits to set the table. Luke Alexander would follow with an RBI-single for that inning's only run.

MSU finished with 10 hits and played errorless ball. Alexander, Allen, Vansau and Foscue each had multiple hits.

LSU's Jordan finished with two of his team's four hits. Caleb Gilbert (3-2) was lifted in the sixth inning and took the loss.

The Bulldogs and Tigers will conclude their series at Alex Box Stadium on Saturday with a 2 p.m. CT first pitch on SEC Network+, which can be accessed through WatchESPN.com and the Watch ESPN app.

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