There’s no denying the talent on Mississippi State’s roster. But through three weekends in Southeastern Conference play, the Bulldogs have still yet to put together a complete performance.

The bats went cold in Friday night’s 2-1 loss at No. 8 LSU, and following an even longer rain delay Saturday than the one the night before, MSU’s pitching collapsed, allowing eight runs in the first inning of a 17-8 defeat that ended after 1:30 a.m.

“I worry about it for the kids. Baseball is important in Starkville and when we’re not playing well, you hear it,” Bulldogs head coach Chris Lemonis said. “All we can do is go out and play the next game. We know we’re close. It’s just a matter of getting a big hit or making a big pitch.”

MSU unable to win in all phases

Bulldogs ace Pico Kohn was solid again Friday night, with eight strikeouts and no walks in five innings. But he made a pair of mistakes that gave the Tigers all the runs they would need. Ethan Frey led off the second with a solo home run, and Luis Hernandez hit a tiebreaking blast in the fifth.

MSU (16-12, 1-8 SEC) had more than its share of scoring chances. The Bulldogs wasted Dylan Cupp’s leadoff double in the third, then loaded the bases with nobody out in the fourth. A passed ball brought in Ace Reese with the tying run, but Reed Stallman, Nolan Stevens and Cupp all struck out, ending MSU’s best opportunity of the night.

The Bulldogs had two on and one out in the fifth but failed to score, and later left the bases loaded in the eighth. Stone Simmons was sharp in three scoreless innings of relief, but the timely hit eluded MSU, which left 12 runners on base and was 2-for-14 with runners in scoring position. Neither of those two hits brought a run home, and the Bulldogs struck out 18 times against Anthony Eyanson and Casan Evans.

“We just didn’t put enough balls in play,” Lemonis said. “We had too many opportunities. We have a chance to bunt a guy over and get him in and we don’t do that. Then we had multiple opportunities to get a guy in from third with less than two outs and we don’t get a good enough at-bat. It ends up being the ball game.”

Pitching woes waste much better offensive output

Karson Ligon did not make it out of the first inning Saturday night, allowing eight runs (seven earned) on seven hits while recording just two outs. LSU (26-3, 7-2) squared up one ball after another against him as his season ERA ballooned to 7.33. MSU’s bats could have dug the Bulldogs out of the big early hole — if the bullpen had held up its end of the bargain.

Ben Davis at least briefly settled things down, but the Tigers kept scoring in the middle and late innings. Every LSU starter had a hit and four had three-hit nights. MSU managed to cut the deficit in half in the top of the second on a Hunter Hines solo homer and a three-run double from Cupp, and the Bulldogs scored three in the seventh to make it a 13-8 game with a Nolan Stevens two-run double and a Gehrig Frei sacrifice fly.

But MSU had nobody to stop the bleeding on the other end. Nate Williams was the visitors’ best pitcher of the night, allowing just one unearned run and striking out three in 1 ⅔ innings. Luke Dotson and Mikhai Grant both struggled mightily as the game lasted into the wee hours, four hours and eight minutes in all.

The Bulldogs have a midweek game Tuesday evening at Memphis, then return to Dudy Noble Field for a three-game series against South Carolina.

“These kids are trying too hard,” Lemonis said. “I need to get them to relax a little bit and have some fun playing the game. Winning is fun. We need to get to where we’re winning some ball games.”