The Bulldog Box Score: No sweep ending as MSU drops series finale at LSU

Tigers top the Bulldogs 8-3 on Sunday

Mississippi State will have to hold onto its brooms for another time. On this weekend, there was no sweep.

After winning on Friday and Saturday, No. 3 MSU fell 8-3 to No. 19 LSU on Sunday. It was a disappointing ending to what almost certainly has to be viewed as an overall incredibly successful weekend for State. 

"It was a good weekend, but (Sunday) was a new day and I didn’t think we were really good (Sunday)," MSU head coach Chris Lemonis said. "(It was a) little disappointing here, but give LSU credit. I would have liked to see us give a better effort."

It was a day where very little seemed to go MSU's way. That started from the beginning. For the the third time in four starts this year, Eric Cerantola struggled mightily. He lasted only 1.1 innings, and though he didn't allow a hit, he walked two batters, threw two wild pitches and hit a man. Cerantola allowed two total runs before Lemonis pulled him in the middle of the second inning.

"He wasn’t throwing strikes," Lemonis said of Cerantola. "He hit a guy and threw the ball to backstop. It wasn’t in the (strike) zone...We’ll reevaluate (the pitching situation going forward) after the week, but (Cerantola) just wasn’t in the zone early in the game."

MSU did have a couple of things working for it. The Bulldog bats put up a couple of early runs to keep pace with LSU, and freshman Jackson Fristoe had a strong relief appearance to keep State in the game.

Fristoe entered in the third inning with the contest tied 2-2 and fired three straight shutout frames to start. However with two outs in the sixth, Fristoe finally cracked as he surrendered a solo home run to LSU's Gavin Dugas. The Tigers were then up 3-2 and led the rest of the way. 

LSU tacked on with three more runs in the seventh off State reliever Carlisle Koestler. MSU got one run back in the eighth, but the Tigers put two more on the board in the home half as Jordan Thompson smacked a two-run double off of State's Parker Stinnett. MSU then went quietly in the ninth as LSU officially salvaged this weekend's series finale.

Sunday's game wasn't the cherry on top of a dominant weekend that State was hoping for after winning the first two down in Baton Rouge. But again, to win a series on the road against a Top-20 team? Well that has MSU off and running on its SEC schedule

"Of course we wanted the sweep, but two out of three in Baton Rouge isn't a bad start," MSU third baseman Kamren James said.

(NOTE: You can hear MSU third baseman Kamren James' full postgame press conference with the audio/video at the top of this page. For head coach Chris Lemonis' media session, CLICK HERE TO LISTEN. All audio is courtesy of Ben Portnoy of The Dispatch. Check out Portnoy's onsite coverage from Baton Rouge by CLICKING HERE.)

Alright, let's take a look at Sunday's numbers, the Cowbell Corner MSU Offensive and Pitching MVPs, as well as the Moment of the Game.

Mississippi State at LSU box score

MSU Offensive MVP: 3B Kamren James

James went 3-for-4, drove in a run and was easily the most consistent Bulldog at the plate on Sunday. Unfortunately for MSU, the Dogs couldn't get much else going from anyone else. 

Tanner Allen did have one hit and drove in MSU's two other runs, but it was an overall frustrating day at the plate for the Bulldogs.

"It was just soft and softer in hitter’s counts," Lemonis said of what State's hitters were seeing. "(LSU pitcher A.J. Labas was) just making guys put balls weakly into play. When we got guys on, we were able to push him up in the zone and we had a little more success. He just did a good job of keeping us off-balance."

MSU Pitching MVP: RP Jackson Fristoe

Only time will tell, but Fristoe might've worked his way right back into the Mississippi State weekend rotation. After Cerantola was once again all over the place, Fristoe settled things down with just one run allowed over four innings. He struck out six. 

“Jackson pitched great,” Lemonis said. “He hung the slider there in the sixth (that was a home run for Dugas), but the batter before him I thought he pitched (Dylan) Crews great. Came out and gave us a competitive effort.”

Moment of the Game: LSU puts it away

Mississippi State trailed 3-2 with two outs in the bottom of the seventh. The game was very much still within reach, all MSU reliever Carlisle Koestler needed to do was get one more out and get the bats back in the Bulldogs' hands. LSU wouldn't allow it.

Back-to-back hits by the Tigers all but put the game out of reach. Tre' Morgan drove in a run with a double up the middle, then Brody Drost immediately followed with a two-run homer. Just like that, MSU was down four and had too big of an uphill climb to overcome.

Mississippi State head coach Chris Lemonis meets with his team earlier this season. (File photo courtesy of Mississippi State athletics)

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