No. 13 Mississippi State gave up too many free bases in their 11-5 loss to No. 6 LSU, and in doing so lost their shot at a share of the SEC West title.
                The Tigers (38-17, 20-9 SEC) are the SEC West champions after Arkansas lose to Texas A&M tonight and will be the two-seed in the SEC tournament. The Bulldogs (34-21, 17-12 SEC) still have a lot to play for as tomorrow’s game three and other games across the conference could see MSU land themselves anywhere from the four-seed to the six-seed.
                Bad pitching was the story for MSU tonight. However, MSU starting pitcher Denver McQuary was able to give MSU a solid outing. After getting off to a rocky start, giving up three runs in the first inning, the freshman from Mantee, Mississippi, was able to settle into a nice groove as he then threw three perfect innings.
                After the game he said it was MSU pitching coach Gary Henderson that settled him down and gave him his confidence back.
                “He told me look your stuff is good, just get it over the plate and have confidence in each pitch,” McQuary said. “That is what I did after that first inning.”
                MSU gave up 13 total free bases. They issued 11 walks and hit two batters. The worst of it was in the sixth inning, where MSU walked four batters. Three of which they walked when the bases were loaded, giving LSU three free runs. The MSU pitchers also threw three wild pitches.
                Head coach Andy Cannizaro made it clear after the game that free bases were not something a team could give to LSU and expect to win the game.              
                “If you’re going to beat that opponent, if you’re going to beat LSU with the players that they have in that dugout, you have make them stand in the box and beat you,” Cannizaro said. “We didn’t do that tonight.”
                The walks overshadow the solid night some of MSU’s batters had in the loss. Jake Mangum and Hunter Stovall both had solid outings. Mangum, a sophomore from Pearl, Mississippi, went 3-5 at the plate and had an RBI. Stovall, a sophomore from Pelham, Alabama, went 2-5 but batted in two runs.
                Overall MSU outhit LSU. The Bulldogs had 10 hits compared to LSU’s 8. They even got the timely clutch hitting they could not find in game one as they were 5-18 at the plate with runners on base. LSU stranded more runners than MSU did as well. The Tigers left 10 on base compared to MSU’s nine, but the difference remained that MSU walked 11 LSU batters and the Tigers only walked four Bulldogs.
                The Diamond Dogs will be back in action tomorrow for the final game in Dudy Noble field in the stadium’s current condition. First pitch is set for 3:30 p.m. and RHP Cole Gordon is set to be on the mound for MSU.