COLUMBIA, S.C. — No. 13 Mississippi State scored three runs in the top of the ninth inning to knock off No. 17 South Carolina 5-4 in Southeastern Conference baseball action Saturday afternoon at Founders Park.

Coupled with a 7-4 win Friday night, MSU clinched the weekend series, taking its first series win at South Carolina since the 1998 season. The Bulldogs have won 10 of their last 11 conference games, while taking four straight conference series.

MSU improved to 25-12 overall and 10-4 in the league with a fifth straight win. South Carolina fell to 21-13 and 7-7. The Bulldogs remain hot on the trail of the Arkansas Razorbacks for first place in the Western Division race.

“That was an outstanding win,” head coach Andy Cannizaro said. “This game was about confidence for us. After winning last night, we had more confidence. We have been getting some really great production out of the bullpen. I am really excited about how those guys have come in and thrown strikes.”

MSU scored first in the third inning when Luke Alexander hit his fourth home run of the season. The Bulldogs are second in the conference with 39 home runs this season.

South Carolina answered with a two-run home run by Carlos Cortes in the home half of the third inning to take a 2-1 advantage.

The Bulldogs tied the contest in the seventh inning. Cody Brown reached on an error and came home on a pinch-hit double by Hunter Vansau.

The score remained deadlocked until the ninth inning.

Ryan Gridley, Cody Brown and Vansau had consecutive singles to load the bases with nobody out.

USC went to the bullpen, ending the day for starter Wil Crowe (3-3). Crowe allowed seven hits and five runs (four earned), with four strikeouts and three walks. Colie Bowers entered in relief.

A ground ball out brought home Gridley, while a wild pitch scored Brown. Hunter Stovall followed with a critical two-out RBI-single. A runner was put out at the plate on that hit but the damage had been done.

The early home run would be the only damper on a strong start by Cole Gordon. Gordon threw four innings, allowing five hits and two runs (both earned, with two strikeouts.

Jacob Barton, Trysten Barlow and Trey Jolly (2-1) combined four innings of scoreless relief. In the ninth inning, Spencer Price was touched for another two-run home run by Cortes but then got back-to-back outs for his 13th save.

MSU finished with eight hits, including multi-hit games by Brown and Vansau.

The three-game series will conclude at 3 p.m. Sunday.

LSU 3, OLE MISS 2 

BATON ROUGE, — In a tight battle Saturday afternoon at Alex Box Stadium, the Ole Miss baseball team dropped a 3-2 decision to No. 8 LSU. The Rebels (22-14, 7-8 SEC) had the tying run on second in the bottom of the ninth, but a leaping catch in shallow right field prevented the comeback and gave the win to the Tigers (25-12, 9-6 SEC) in the series finale.

Tate Blackman homered for the third time in two games to increase his season total to five, tying Colby Bortles for the team high. Nick Fortes knocked in the Rebels’ other run to increase his reached base streak to eight games, while Will Golsan recorded his team-leading 11th multi-hit game of the year in a 2-for-4 showing. Ryan Olenek remained the Ole Miss leader in doubles with his 12th of the season. The Rebels equaled the Tigers in hits as each team totaled eight apiece.

In a battle between two freshmen on the mound, Ryan Rolison (4-2) suffered the loss by allowing three runs (two earned) in 5 1/3 innings. Out of the bullpen, former West Lauderdale pitcher Will Stokes retired all five hitters he faced in 1 2/3 innings of work. For the consecutive day, Dallas Woolfolk put together another scoreless relief appearance.

Josh Smith went 2-for-4 with the game-winning RBI to lead the Tigers at the plate. Greg Deichmann added a solo home run, and Eric Walker (5-0) earned the win by tossing 6 2/3 innings.

LSU took advantage of two Rebel miscues to score the game’s first run in the second. Two hits and an error put runners on the corners, but Rolison issued a pop-up for the second out of the inning. The freshman forced another groundball, but Blackman bobbled it at second which allowed a run to cross the plate. However, the Ole Miss second baseman made up for his mistake in the next inning. With two outs, Blackman hit a liner that cleared the fence in right field to square the game. The Tigers countered with a two-out homer of their own in the bottom half of the third. Deichmann’s solo shot reclaimed the lead for LSU, 2-1. 

Rolison threw back-to-back scoreless innings to keep the game within a run going into the sixth. Grae Kessinger led off the inning with a chopper over the third baseman’s head. Not slowing down, the shortstop slid safely into second to leg out a leadoff double. Blackman hit a flyball deep enough to right field that moved Kessinger closer to home. However, with the infield in, Golsan smoked a line drive that found an LSU mitt. On the sharply hit ball, Kessinger was caught off the bag at third as the double play ended the inning with the Tigers still ahead.

LSU added a run in the bottom of the sixth courtesy of a double to right field and a single up the middle. The consecutive hits ended Rolison’s day, but Stokes came out of the bullpen to finish the inning and limit the damage. 

The Rebels immediately got the run back in the seventh. Olenek roped an opposite-field double before scoring on a two-out single by Fortes. Another hit by Cole Zabowski forced Walker out of the game, but the move on the mound kept LSU in front, 3-2.

Ole Miss recorded a pair of hits in the eighth, but LSU once again escaped the inning without allowing a run and holding on to the lead. Woolfolk pitched a scoreless frame to give the Rebels one last chance at the lone-run deficit. Tim Rowe used patience at the plate to draw a five-pitch walk before the speedy Kyle Watson replaced him on the base path. Fortes followed by placing a perfect bunt in front of home plate to move the tying run into scoring position. Then, with two outs, Seamster lifted a ball that looked like it would fall into shallow right field to score Watson. However, LSU second baseman Cole Freeman jumped and hauled in the catch as he fell to the ground, keeping the Rebels inches away from tying the contest.

After spending the week on the road, playing four games in five days, the Rebels will have three days off until they return to the diamond. Ole Miss will begin a four-game homestand at Swayze Field, hosting Arkansas-Pine Bluff for a midweek matchup Wednesday, April 19. Following the non-conference affair, the Rebels welcome Missouri to Oxford for SEC play (April 21-23). The three-game series against the Tigers will be Military Appreciation Weekend at Swayze Field.

RICE 11, SOUTHERN MISS 4

HOUSTON — Rice scored four runs in both the second and fifth innings en route to an 11-4 Conference USA victory over No. 16 Southern Miss Saturday afternoon at Reckling Park.

The Golden Eagles (27-9 overall, 11-3 C-USA) had a string of seven-straight road league games and a nine-game true road game winning streak snapped in the setback.

Tristan Gray led the Owls (13-24, 4-10) with four of their 16 hits as Charlie Warren, Ryan Chandler and Darryn Sheppard each drove in a pair of runs for the home squad.

Matt Wallner had two of the Golden Eagles’ eight hits as the team used the long ball to score three-fourths of their runs in the contest. Former Southeast Lauderdale standout Mason Irby was 1-for-3 with two walks.

Down 4-1, Dylan Burdeaux extended his hitting streak to 13 games with a solo home run to leftfield for his seventh of the year in the fifth.

The Owls, though, added four more runs in the bottom of the frame to extend their lead to 8-1.

LeeMarcus Boyd cut the gap to 8-2 with an RBI groundout in the sixth, but Rice again pounded Golden Eagle pitching with three more runs in the seventh.

Southern Miss closed the gap in the ninth with a two-run home run by pinch hitter Jake Viaene to right. With his blast, all 14 Golden Eagles with an at bat this year has tallied at least one homer.

Zach Esquivel kept Southern Miss in check for five-plus innings allowing two runs on five hits with four walks and four strikeouts to earn the victory and improve to 3-4 on the year. Willy Amador hurled the final four innings and allowed a pair of runs on three this with three walks and one strikeout to garner his first save.

Golden Eagle starter Hayden Roberts (4-2) allowed six runs on eight hits with a pair of walks and five strikeouts to suffer the loss. Southern Miss used five pitchers in the contest.

The two teams play the deciding game of the series Sunday. First pitch is set for 1 p.m.