HOOVER, Ala. — The University of Mississippi baseball team stayed within striking distance for most of the game, but LSU used a five-run eighth inning to break the game open en route to an 11-2 victory in an elimination game on day two of the Southeastern Conference tournament at Regions Park.
Jordy Snikeris homered, doubled, and drove in four runs to power LSU (43-15), which will play Mississippi State at 3 p.m. today in another elimination game.
Snikeris pinch hit in the eighth and helped the Tigers score seven runs in the final two innings.
Tyler Hanover went 4-for-5 and scored a pair of runs for LSU, while Austin Nola’s three hits included an RBI double.
Ole Miss (35-24) will await the announcement of the NCAA tournament field at 11 a.m. Monday (ESPNU).
Tanner Bailey (2-2) took the loss, allowing three runs on seven hits with a walk and two strikeouts in three innings.
Kevin Gausman (10-1) picked up the win. He held the Rebels to two runs on seven hits with a walk and seven strikeouts in seven innings.
“LSU is a very good team and the game got away from us a little there at the end,” Ole Miss coach Mike Bianco said. “We pitched out of a lot of jams early and we were able to minimize a lot of opportunities, but you can’t play like that against one of the best pitchers in the country like Gausman. You have to keep momentum on your side.”
LSU got on the board in the first inning, loading the bases with three straight singles before a sac fly to center field brought the first run home. A single up the middle in the next at bat gave the Tigers a second run and LSU held a 2-0 lead before the Rebels would get out of the inning.
Ole Miss got on the board in the second when Will Allen singled to center field to bring in Auston Bousfield from third. Bousfield doubled to left to open the inning and moved to third on a groundout from Sikes Orvis that set up the score on the Allen hit to make it 2-1.
The Tigers took the lead back out to two runs in the third with a groundout to second from Ty Ross that brought Mason Katz in from third. Katz walked to open the inning and moved to third on a single from Raph Rhymes as LSU went up 3-1.
Ole Miss cut the lead in half in the sixth with a ground-rule double to left from Bousfield that brought Kirksey home from second. Kirksey reached on a single before advancing to second on a wild pitch. He then scored on the double to left from Bousfield that bounced over the wall and out of the park to make it 4-2.
LSU broke things open in the eighth inning with an RBI double from Austin Nola with two outs that scored Tyler Hanover and left two men in scoring position for the start of a big rally. The Rebels turned to the bullpen after the Nola double and LSU countered with Snikeris, who doubled to left center to drive in both runners and make it 7-2.
A single to right from Rhymes made it 8-2 and left runners at the corners as a throwing error from right allowed the lead runner to go from second to third on the play. LSU added its fifth run of the inning on a single to center from Tyler Moore to make it 9-2 before the Rebels would get a pair of fly outs to end the inning.
LSU used a two-run home run in the ninth to account for the final margin.
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