Arkansas Beats LSU in Extra Innings

The defending champs have now lost each of its first three SEC series

For the second night in a row a good effort by LSU (20-8, 2-6) wasn’t good enough as the Razorbacks of Arkansas (22-3, 7-1) walked it off in the 10th inning, 4-3.

“We’re in a tough stretch right now, but we’ve just got to take it one game at a time,” Jay Johnson said. “Make it about baseball. We played better baseball tonight, and we gave ourselves a chance to win. We have a lot of guys in new spots, and we’ve got to learn how to win.”

Luke Holman got the start in his usual Friday night spot and got roughed up. Holman gave up five hits, walked another five batters, and was charged with three runs. He was pulled in the fourth inning for Griffin Herring.

Herring was absolutely brilliant in relief of Holman and he deserved the win. In a performance reminiscent of his effort against Wake Forest, Herring threw a scoreless 4.2 innings where he only gave up three hits and struck out eight.

LSU got on the board first thanks to a two-run single by Josh Pearson in the third. We’ve talked a lot about LSU’s lack of situational hitting this season, so it was nice to see Pearson deliver with two outs.

Speaking of situational hitting, freshman Ashton Larson tied the game in the sixth when he came on as a pinch hitter. Larson got his number called with the bases loaded and delivered a sac fly that scored Pearson.

It ultimately doesn’t matter because LSU lost, but Jared Jones recreated the Tre’ Morgan Play in the seventh inning. It was cool then and it was cool now.

Thatcher Hurd came on for Herring in the 10th and got let down by his defense. Will Edmunson hit a routine groundball to Michael Braswell, but the ball went under Braswell’s glove and Edmunson reached first. It’s Braswell’s seventh error of the season. Two pitches later, Arkansas’s Hudson White hit a walk off double down the line into the left field corner that scored Edmunson all the way from first.

There’s still 22 conference games to be played, but LSU is digging themselves a hole I’m not sure they’ll be able to climb out of. LSU is 0-3 through its first three SEC series and the schedule isn’t easing up anytime soon. Remember, LSU’s next two weekends will be home against No. 7 Vanderbilt and then going to Knoxville to take on No. 4 Tennessee. There’s a very real chance we could be in the middle of April and LSU is somewhere around 5-10 in league play. Forget making the NCAA Tournament, LSU might miss the SEC Tournament if things keep spiraling.

“We’re going to keep fighting,” Johnson said. “There were some positives in the game tonight; we just have to keep fighting to make sure we have the right combination. I thought we did that tonight on the mound, you can’t ask for much better than that.”

LSU and Arkansas will play its series finale at 2:00 P.M. Saturday and that game can be streamed on SEC Network+. Here’s hoping LSU doesn’t get swept.