LSU still has three more regular season games and the SEC Tournament, but the Tigers season may have ended on Friday when they couldn’t hold on to a 7-3 lead in the eighth inning and lost to Alabama eight to seven.
That set the stage for a series loss for the Tigers as they dropped the rubber game on Sunday falling to the Crimson Tide 4-3.
LSU is now 1-8 in game threes on the season and 4-9 in SEC. So close but so far away.
The Tigers are now 10-17 in the SEC with three more to go against a surging Ole Miss team.
LSU is in 12th place in the SEC and it’s still not a guarantee they make the SEC Tournament.
Even a sweep against the Rebels might not be enough for LSU to receive an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.
The two biggest factors for the lack of success this season; pitching and they didn’t get the performances needed from some position players who took on expanded roles this season.
Gage Jump and Luke Holman have been reliable weekend starters. Griffin Herring, Christian Little and Nate Ackenhausen have been good out of the bullpen, but not enough consistency from the rest of the guys.
All five were used in the first two games of the series against Alabama. Coach Jay Johnson turned to Sam Dutton to start Sunday’s game and he didn’t give them the start the Tigers needed. Giving up three runs in 1.1 innings.
The bullpen gave the Tigers a chance to pull off a comeback victory, but the Tigers were held to six hits on Sunday.
Hayden Travinski didn’t play for the first time this season, after three strikeouts on Saturday.
Travinski and Jared Jones have struck out about 30% of the time. That’s been rally killers for LSU.
Veteran Mac Bingham has been a non-factor in recent weeks, Paxton Kling is hitting .223 and has been in and out of the line up. Josh Pearson has had some clutch hits, but he’s only hitting .236.
Tommy White has done his part. Jones has hit 22 home runs, Michael Braswell has played better at shortstop lately and he’s hitting a respectable .293. Also, a couple of freshmen have done their part in Steven Milam and Ashton Larson.
But it has not been enough to lead to more victories.
The Tigers are now facing a situation where they must sweep Ole Miss this week to give them a chance at the NCAA Tournament.
The Rebels have won their last two series and would love nothing more to put a fork in a disappointing LSU season.