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Winning a Southeastern Conference series, especially on the road, is key if Missouri baseball wants to play in an NCAA regional. Over the weekend, Missouri failed to accomplish this, dropping three straight games against the No. 22 LSU Tigers in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
A common theme in all three games, Missouri led at some point in every matchup. On Thursday, after LSU took a 1-0 lead behind a solo-home run by sophomore infielder Jacob Berry, Missouri responded in the second inning with an RBI single from senior catcher Mike Coletta. Redshirt junior infielder Luke Mann followed Coletta in the third inning with an RBI triple to give Missouri a 2-1 lead.
Berry homered again in the bottom of the third inning to tie the game. LSU tacked on three more runs in the fifth inning following four consecutive hits. Junior infielder Torin Montgomery’s RBI single brought Missouri within two runs, but it wouldn’t be enough as Missouri fell 5-3.
Junior right-handed pitcher Spencer Miles suffered his fourth loss of the year after giving up 10 hits and all five LSU runs in 5.2 innings pitched. Sophomore right-handed pitcher Carter Rustad took over and allowed just one hit the rest of the game.
On Friday, the second game of the series followed a similar script from the beginning as sophomore outfielder Dylan Crews gave LSU an early 1-0 lead with a home run to left center.
Missouri added two runs in the top of the third inning behind RBI singles from senior infielder Josh Day and Montgomery to take a 2-1 lead. LSU responded with two solo home runs, one in the fourth and one in the sixth inning, before Mann kept Missouri alive in the eighth inning with a solo shot to left field.
LSU finished Missouri off in extra innings as redshirt sophomore infielder Cade Doughty hit a walk-off single to left center field to hand Missouri the series loss.
Missouri fought hard Saturday to avoid a series sweep. Trailing 7-3 in the top of the eighth inning, Missouri scored three runs with the help of sophomore outfielder Ross Lovich’s sacrifice fly RBI, Coletta’s reach on an error by the shortstop and sophomore infielder Trevor Austin’s bases-loaded walk. Missouri did not record a hit in the ninth inning and fell in the series finale 8-6.
Words were hard to find for Missouri head coach Steve Bieser following Game Three.
“Overall, just a tough one to swallow right now,” Bieser said. “I don’t have a lot to say about it other than we came up short and we lost the ballgame today.”
Heading into a Tuesday matchup against the Missouri State Bears, the Tigers hold a 22-15 record and stand at 5-13 in SEC play, which is last place in the SEC East. Despite ranking 29th nationally in the RPI, the Tigers will have to play strong over the next few weeks to make the SEC tournament.
Edited by Brandon Haynes | bhaynes@themaneater.com