Lafayette Native Duplantis, LSU rally to beat Mississippi State, 8-5 in SEC Tourney

HOOVER, Ala. (AP) – Antoine Duplantis had three hits and two RBIs to lead LSU to an 8-5 victory over Mississippi State Tuesday night in the first round of the Southeastern Conference tournament.
  
The defending champion Tigers (34-23), who have won a league-best 12 tournament titles, face top-seeded Florida Wednesday when the format moves to double elimination. The Bulldogs (31-25) await their NCAA regional fate.
  
LSU rallied from a 3-0 deficit with a pair of runs in three consecutive innings. The Tigers took the lead in the seventh when Jake Slaughter was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded and Nick Coomes delivered a sacrifice fly. Devin Fontenot (2-0) got the win.
  
Mississippi State had two hits in the ninth but couldn’t produce a run against reliever Todd Peterson, who got the save. The Bulldogs’ Tanner Allen and Josh Hatcher each drove in two runs.