Louisiana Slump University Loses Again Behind Anemic Hitting, 6-1, to No. 261 RPI Sacramento State

By GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor

Now, it may be time to at least point a finger at the panic button.

No. 2 – and falling fast – LSU lost its fourth game out of five games with a weak offense Sunday night, 6-1, to Sacramento State, which came into Baton Rouge at 3-9 with a 261 ranking in the Ratings Percentage Index.

The Tigers (12-5) registered only six hits after putting up just three in a 5-4 loss on Saturday. On Friday, LSU broke a two-game losing streak with a 15-4 win over Sacramento State on 14 hits.

And LSU’s schedule is about to get a lot tougher when it opens Southeastern Conference play on Friday at Vanderbilt (10-7) after hosting Creighton at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday in Alex Box Stadium.

Sacramento State (5-10) got only six hits, but scored all the runs it needed in the third inning when it took a 2-0 lead off LSU starter William Schmidt, who took the loss to fall to 3-1.

Schmidt did his job, though, holding the Hornets to three earned runs on four hits in five and two-thirds innings with eight strikeouts and no walks.

But LSU’s offense didn’t score its first run until the seventh on a two-out RBI single by Brayden Simpson, cutting Sacramento State’s lead to 5-1. With runners on first and second, Daniel Harden flew out to left field to end the inning.

The Tiges got a one-out single from Mason Braun in the fifth, but Simpson struck out and Harden grounded out to second to end the inning.

Sacramento State took a 2-0 lead off Schmidt in the third after two outs. Orlando Cobarrubias led off with a single before Schmidt struck out Jacob Cortez and got Brett Ott to fly out to center. But Sam Harry doubled to left field for a 1-0 lead. Schmidt struck out Erick Dessens, but catcher Cade Arrambide didn’t catch the third strike, threw errantly to first base, and Harry scored from second base for a 2-0 advantage.

The Hornets took a 5-0 lead in the sixth. Dessens and Jakob Poturnak singled back-to-back to lead off, chasing Schmidt. Then reliever Cooper Williams hit Luis Pimentel-Guerrero to load the bases and was replaced by Gavin Guidry.

Guidry immediately walked Jace Jeremiah with the bases loaded, and it was 3-0. Michael Perazzo followed with a two-run single for the 5-0 cushion. Sacramento State took a 6-1 lead in the eighth.