{"id":209637,"date":"2026-03-08T00:17:09","date_gmt":"2026-03-08T00:17:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/209637\/"},"modified":"2026-03-08T00:17:09","modified_gmt":"2026-03-08T00:17:09","slug":"lsu-baseball-loses-to-sacramento-state-despite-late-rally-lsu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/209637\/","title":{"rendered":"LSU baseball loses to Sacramento State despite late rally | LSU"},"content":{"rendered":"

If Friday<\/a> was a massive step forward, Saturday<\/a> was a leap backward for\u00a0LSU baseball<\/a>\u2019s\u00a0lineup.<\/p>\n

The Tigers had just one hit through seven innings. They got underneath the ball too often to start the game and struck out far too many times after that. After smacking the ball around the park to the tune of six home runs and 10 extra-base hits the night before, Saturday\u2019s contest at Alex Box Stadium was the opposite of what LSU coach Jay Johnson envisioned, as LSU trailed 1-0 for most of the day.<\/p>\n

The disappearance of the offense is a mystery that Benoit Blanc from the \u201cKnives Out\u201d films would even have trouble solving.<\/p>\n

The Tigers\u2019 inability to get anything going at the plate placed too much pressure on their pitching staff, which kept the deficit at one until redshirt junior right-hander Jaden Noot allowed a grand slam with two outs in the eighth inning. The shot was the finishing blow in LSU\u2019s 5-4 loss to Sacramento State.<\/p>\n

\u201cI trust the effort the guys are putting in. We’re putting in a ton as coaches,\u201d a subdued Johnson said after LSU\u2019s third loss in four games. \u201cI think today’s a good indication of how you never have baseball. It requires the right kind of prep, focus, intent, and, ultimately, execution to be really good, and so we have to see the course with that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sophomore Cade Arrambide\u2019s single in the second inning was LSU\u2019s only hit until Grand Canyon transfer Zach Yorke smashed a run-scoring double in the eighth. That inning was when the Tigers scored three runs to cut their five-run deficit to two. Yorke\u2019s double was LSU\u2019s lone knock in the inning, as the rally was aided by two walks, a wild pitch and an error.<\/p>\n

But the comeback attempt fell short in the ninth, despite a solo home run from pinch-hitter Daniel Harden that cut the deficit to 5-4, and a pair of walks from juniors Jake Brown and Steven Milam that put the game-tying and winning runs on base with one out.<\/p>\n

Yorke struck out, and Kansas State transfer Seth Dardar flew out to center field to end the game.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don’t think we got three good at-bats in a row in the entire game,\u201d Johnson said, \u201cand that’s just a must for us to score.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sacramento State (4-10) separated from the Tigers in the top of the eighth by taking advantage of an uncharacteristically poor outing from redshirt sophomore right-hander Deven Sheerin.<\/p>\n

Sheerin \u2014 who entered Saturday having not allowed a hit or a run in five appearances \u2014 walked two batters and surrendered a single that set up the bases-loaded jam with two outs. Then, in a two-strike count, Noot allowed a fastball over the plate that second baseman Cameron Sewell sent into the right-field bleachers.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019d been good up until today,\u201d Johnson said when he was asked about Sheerin. \u201cI\u2019m proud of him for that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Saturday was not Kansas right-handed transfer Cooper Moore\u2019s best start. The junior couldn\u2019t escape the fifth inning and, uncharacteristically, walked three batters and hit two others. Moore had more walks on Saturday than he had in his first three starts combined.<\/p>\n

But he still surrendered only one run, allowing a run-scoring double with two outs and two strikes in the second inning. Still, his inefficiency forced Johnson to turn to junior-college transfer Ethan Plog to finish the fifth.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don’t think he had his best stuff or outing,\u201d Johnson said, \u201cbut I thought he competed like he does, and that’s why I’m very comfortable winning or losing with him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Plog was excellent in relief. With LSU (12-4) trailing by a run, he tossed 2\u2154 scoreless innings to drop his ERA on the season to 1.50. He walked just one batter and had two strikeouts while consistently generating weak contact. He exited for Sheerin with one out in the eighth inning.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust getting ahead in the zone, finishing guys off quickly,\u201d Plog said, \u201chas been beneficial for me the most.\u201d<\/p>\n

LSU finishes off its three-game series with Sacramento State on Sunday. First pitch from Alex Box Stadium is set for 6 p.m., and the game will be available to stream on SEC Network+. The matchup was originally set to begin at 1 p.m., but was moved back due to Sunday\u2019s weather forecast.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"If Friday was a massive step forward, Saturday was a leap backward for\u00a0LSU baseball\u2019s\u00a0lineup. The Tigers had just…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":209638,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[11970,121,123,122],"class_list":{"0":"post-209637","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sacramento","8":"tag-hardwall","9":"tag-sacramento","10":"tag-sacramento-headlines","11":"tag-sacramento-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/209637","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=209637"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/209637\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/209638"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=209637"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=209637"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=209637"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}