HOOVER, Ala. — The timing and the footwork weren’t an issue. Konnor Pilkington fielded the bunt by shortstop Hal Hughes with plenty of time to turn and go to first base for an out, but the ball was wet and Pilkington didn’t feel comfortable making the throw.
The worst was yet to come.
No. 8 seed LSU capitalized on that bunt and other opportunities to rally from a three-run deficit for an 8-5 victory against No. 9 seed MSU in an elimination game on the first day of the Southeastern Conference tournament at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium.
“Five runs and 14 hits should be enough to win,” MSU interim coach Gary Henderson said. “I thought we hit a lot of balls on the nose and performed well against a good pitching staff.”
Pilkington’s inability to find the grip on a wet baseball allowed LSU (34-23) to score two runs on a sacrifice fly and a single to cut MSU’s lead to 3-2.
Graduate transfer Zach Neff suffered a similar mishap to Pilkington when he fielded a hard-hit ground ball by Austin Bain with a chance to start a double play in the seventh inning. Second baseman Hunter Stovall and shortstop Luke Alexander were converging at second base, but Neff turned to first to get that out. The move allowed LSU to have runners on second and third. An intentional walk loaded the bases.
Senior Blake Smith entered the game and hit a batter with a 1-2 pitch to score a run.
Junior Cole Gordon also had a two-out pickoff attempt go awry to help LSU (34-23) tack on two insurance runs in the eighth.
“Sometimes you get in a big environment, and this happens at every level of baseball, and you see veteran guys in the big leagues get outside of themselves,” Henderson said. “You have wonderful kids. They try hard, have a little success, and the next thing you know they’re leaving two straight off-speed pitches up or they’re bouncing fastballs. They lose rhythm and it happens on every team.
“It’s not a lack of hard work or character or anything like that. If I had an answer to correct it immediately I’d be rich. It’s the nature of what we do.”
The early exit — MSU’s first since the 12-team tournament format came to be in 2012 and its first loss in its first game of the tournament since 2011 — gives MSU (31-25) almost a week before its NCAA tournament fate is revealed at 11 a.m. Monday (ESPNU). Regional play will begin later that week.
Baseball America and D1baseball.com had MSU as a No. 2 seed in a NCAA tournament regional in their most recent projections, so all MSU has to learn is its destination and first opponent.
Until then, MSU will try to regroup and regain the momentum it seized with a three-game sweep of No. 1 Florida in the final series of the regular season.
Freshman first baseman Tanner Allen had a sacrifice fly in the fourth and an RBI single for his eighth and ninth RBIs in his last five games. Jake Mangum, Rowdey Jordan, Dustin Skelton, and Josh Hatcher also had multiple hits.
Freshman third baseman Justin Foscue opened the scoring with a two-run double in the third.
The NCAA will release the 16 teams hosting regionals Sunday evening. The rest of the bracket will be revealed Monday.
Follow Dispatch sports writer Brett Hudson on Twitter @Brett_Hudson
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