LSU falls in SEC’s tourney’s longest game ever

Published 9:47 am Thursday, May 23, 2019

Staff Reports

HOOVER, Ala. — Hard to blame LSU pitcher Ma’Khail Hilliard.

He struck out eight Mississippi State batters in his 4.2 innings in a game that bled well into the wee hours of Wednesday morning.

But the longest game in LSU and SEC tournament history ended in part because of two of his strike outs as Mississippi State scored in the bottom of the 17th inning for a 6-5 victory over the Tigers in a game that didn’t end until 3:30 a.m.

The Bulldogs’ eventual winning run got aboard when Hilliard struck out Justion Foscue, but the Bulldog reached first when LSU catcher Brock Mathis couldn’t handle the knockout pitch in the dirt. Hilliard also struck out the next batter, but again the pitch got past Mathis to allow Forscue to advance into scoring position, from where he scored the winning run on Gunner Halter’s two-out single.

To recap: Hilliard got the first out of inning on a fly out and struck out the next two batters, but lost the game.

LSU, which is trying to build its postseason resume to land the right to host an NCAA regional next week, will need a quick turnaround.

After playing the school’s longest game by innings and time — six hours, 43 minutes — LSU will play an eliminaton game today at approximately 1 p.m. against an Auburn team that didn’t even play a full nine innings Wednesday.

Auburn was run-ruled 11-1 in eight innings  earlier Wednesday by No. 1 seed Vanderbilt.

“They’re not gonna cancel the game tomorrow,” Mainieri said. “Gotta get home and get some sleep and get back out here and give it everything we’ve got again.”

Mississippi State advances in the winner’s bracket to face No. 1 Vanderbilt in Thursday’s final game.

Wednesday’s marathong LSU loss  spoiled a masterful performance by LSU’s bullpen which, after starter Eric Walker was roughed up for four runs in the first three innings, held the Bulldogs scoreless over the next 12 innings.

Matt Beck and Zack Hess threw four scoreless innings apiece and Hilliard was just as effective before his defense let him down.

Walker, however, allowed six hits, walked four and hit three batters, and the damage might have been worse but for getting out of the first two innings with double plays.

But the Tigers bounced back from a 4-run deficit for the second straight night.

They got two runs in the fifth when Antoine Duplantis walked with the bases loaded and Cade Beloso added a sacrifice fly.

LSU freshman DH Giovanni DiGiacomo forced the extra innings when his first career home run, a two-run shot in the eighth inning, tied the score at 4-4 and forced extra innings.

DiGiacomo’s sacrifice fly in the top of the 16th inning gave LSU a 5-4 lead. But State tied it in the bottom of the inning when a two-out error by LSU second baseman Brandt Broussard’s allowed the Bulldogs to scoe their first run since the third inning.

“When the kids give it everything they have like that and still come up short, it’s a tough pill to swallow,” Mainieri said. “Somebody had to lose. It’s a shame we couldn’t hold onto the lead once we got it.”