Weird things always happen when LSU and Mississippi State meet on the baseball diamond as two of the Southeastern Conference’s best programs and one of the most storied baseball rivalries create this unreal environment, no matter the records.

Thursday night was no different; right off the banks of the Mississippi River, on a picture-perfect night for college baseball, the Mississippi State Bulldogs would head south to Alex Box Stadium for the first game of a three-game series with the LSU Tigers.

The series’ first game brought the Bulldogs and Tigers with a pitching matchup for the ages as Kade Anderson for LSU and Evan Siary for Mississippi State faced off in an epic pitcher dual for game one. Siary was the first to tap out after three complete innings, finishing the night giving up three hits, two runs, and three strikeouts. LSU Head Coach Jay Johnson would go to his bullpen in the top half of the 5th, with Anderson finishing his day with six hits and five runs, combined with five outs.

Mississippi State struck first in the top half of the first inning off the bat of Ace Reese, who drilled a two-run shot deep into the bleachers of right field at Alex Box Stadium to give the Bulldogs an early 2-0 lead over the Tigers. Joe Powell would add another run for the Bulldogs in the top of the 2nd with a solo shot of his own to make it 3-0 Mississippi State. Jake Brown would steal home in the bottom of the second for LSU, cutting the Mississippi State lead to 3-1 after two innings. However, the lead over the Tigers would be short-lived as the Bulldogs added three, while LSU would add a second run before a monster five-run bottom of the 5th inning capped by home runs from Steven Milam and Daniel Dickinson to make it 7-6 in favor of the Tigers. LSU would add another insurance run in the bottom of the 8th inning with a passed ball to make it 8-6 Tigers.

That five-run bottom of the 5th inning was too much for the Bulldogs to overcome on Saturday night as the 8th ranked LSU Tigers take game one, forcing a pivotal game two for Mississippi State on Friday night.

With just one SEC win on the season, the Bulldogs face the harsh reality of putting together a few wins starting over the next two days over LSU or likely miss out on the NCAA Regionals without a deep run in Hoover at the SEC Tournament. There are still two months of baseball remaining, but time is running out for the Bulldogs to gain momentum and resume building wins before the single-elimination SEC Tournament. There’s talent on the roster, but somebody has to step up in the locker room with that killer mentality that wins championships. The 2021 National Championship-winning team had a group of guys like that; this year has the talent, but that leader has yet to emerge that would hold every guy on the roster, including himself, accountable for every mistake and loss. The potential is there; the Bulldogs have just got to take a deep, hard look in the mirror and figure out if the front of the uniform is more important than the back.

Game two between the Bulldogs and Tigers will be at 6:30 on Friday night with a television audience on the SEC Plus.

Photo Credits – LSU Baseball on X