LSU baseball falls to Arkansas 5-4, will play in elimination game Friday against Texas A&M

There was a lot of hype around Thursday’s SEC tournament matchup between LSU and Arkansas. Paul Skenes was on the mound and LSU fans filled the stands. But Arkansas made Skenes earn every out, and the Razorbacks came away with a 5-4 win.

Skenes’ outing ended earlier than many could have expected. He went 3.2 innings, allowing five runs on two hits, two of those runs were earned, while striking out three and walking two.

He held his own through the first three innings, but adversity started to hit in the fourth inning. Three straight singles from Arkansas tied the game at two, and Skenes came out of the game. 

“I tip my hat to their hitters because they did something nobody has done all year,” Johnson said. “They were able to get to the right part of the ball and hit some balls hard through the infield and created three or four good at-bats in a row.”

But Arkansas taking the lead shortly after could have been avoided.

Riley Cooper came in first in relief with the bases loaded and two outs, and a fly out to right center field sent the Tigers in for the inning. 

But a catcher’s interference call gave Kendall Diggs first base and allowed Arkansas to take the lead. Jace Bohrofen then scored two runs with a single.

“[Kendall] Diggs’s bat hit Milazzo’s mitt, and if it hit his mitt, then it’s catcher’s interference,” Johnson said.

LSU took a 1-0 lead in the first inning, and a 2-0 lead in the fourth. But once the Tigers were down, their offense couldn’t get back up and answer. 

Dylan Crews gave the Tigers some hope in the ninth inning with a solo home run to left field, but it didn’t give the team enough momentum to keep the hits going. Crews finished one for four with a home run and a walk.

Despite losing the game, however, the Tigers outhit Arkansas 11 hits to six.

The only two hitters to show consistency in Thursday’s matchup were Hayden Travinski and Tre’ Morgan. Travinski went four for four with four singles, and Morgan went three for four with three singles and an RBI.

Jordan Thompson also went one for four with a single and an RBI.

Arkansas threw its two best pitchers in Hagen Smith and Hunter Hollan. Smith started the game and went 3.2 innings with nine strikeouts. He gave up two runs on five hits. Hollan came in in the fourth inning and went 5.1 innings. He gave up two runs on six hits with eight strikeouts.

In LSU’s regular season series against Arkansas, Hollan started on Friday, March 24, and Smith came in relief.

“That was my first time coming out of the bullpen since probably junior year of high school,” Hollan said. “It wasn’t really different, just had to come in with the mindset that I’m going to compete in the zone and go in with the gameplan that you want.”

On offense, Peyton Holt and Caleb Cali led Arkansas, both going two for four with two singles and an RBI. Jace Bohrofen went one for four with two RBIs. 

But Thursday’s loss wasn’t all bad. It’s known what Skenes can be at his best, and pitchers have off days, but the bullpen only continues to build confidence.

Riley Cooper came in in the fourth inning, and starting in his first full inning in the fifth inning, Cooper had three straight three up, three down innings. He finished the game going 4.1 innings with seven strikeouts. He gave up no runs on just two hits.

“He’s pitched in the College World Series before…he’s pitched in the Super Regionals multiple times,” Johnson said. “He actually rose to the occasion against one of the better teams in the country.”

With Thursday’s loss, LSU will now play for the right to continue toward an SEC championship. It will face off with Texas A&M on Friday at 3 p.m. C.T. at the Hoover Metropolitan Stadium in Hoover, Alabama. That game will be aired on the SEC Network.