Tigers Rally Back to Take Game One of Mississippi State Series

LSU scores six unanswered to avoid what could have been a disastrous loss

Lost in all the hoopla of the second round of March Madness starting and Opening Day for MLB kicking off across the country, a little home run derby contest took place at Alex Box Stadium Thursday night.

It wasn’t easy, but LSU (24-3, 5-2) came out on the right side of it and took the opening game against Mississippi State (16-10, 1-6). LSU overcame a 6-2 deficit to win 8-6.

Kade Anderson had by far and away his worst start of the season as he gave up three home runs over the course of 4.1 innings. He gave up six hit and was charged with five runs. In fact, Mississippi State scored in each of the first five innings of Thursday night’s contest.

Connor Benge may have technically earned the win, but make no mistake Zac Cowan won this game for LSU. Cowan was credited with his third save of the season as the Wofford transfer absolutely slammed the door shut on Mississippi State over the course of his 59 pitches: four innings, one hit, no walks, and seven strikeouts.

“We turned it over to Zac, and he just did what he does every time out,” Jay Johnson said. “The guy is a strike machine, and his fastball, slider and change are elite. He tunnels the ball really well, so every pitch looks the same coming out of his hand. We’re really glad he’s on our team, and you’re not going to find a better person than Zac.”

Trailing 3-0 in the second, LSU finally got on the board in the home half of the inning on a double steal attempt by Jake Brown and Luis Hernandez. Brown was called out at home initially, but upon video review the call was overturned and the Tigers had its first run of the night.

State and LSU traded home runs in the third inning. Hunter Hines absolutely nuked a ball to give Mississippi State a 4-1 lead, but Derek Curiel returned the favor in the home half to keep it a two-run game.

State would score its final run in the sixth inning to extend its lead to 6-2, but that’s when LSU erupted to the tune of a five-run sixth.

Daniel Dickinson hit a three-run home run, his seventh of the season, to get LSU within a run. Two batters later, Steven Milam took the first pitch he saw from Dane Burns and launced it for his sixth homer of the season to give the Tigers a 7-6 lead.

LSU got an insurance run in the eighth inning off of a wild pitch that allowed Tanner Reaves, who got the start at third base, to score and give LSU an 8-6 advantage.

“I’m proud of the team,” Johnson said. “One of our sayings is ‘there’s no clock in baseball,’ and that was a good thing for tonight, down 6-2. Our guys just stayed with it, and I’m proud of them for that. We had some really good at-bats with some walks there in the middle of the game and really big homers by Danny and Steven.”

You’re going to need multiple screens tonight. Game two of the State series is scheduled for 6:00 P.M. (SEC Network+) and about 30 minutes after first pitch, the women’s basketball team will take on NC State in the Sweet 16 (6:30 P.M., ESPN).