LSU shuts out Mississippi State behind dominating pitching performance from Ma'Khail Hilliard
Ma'Khail Hilliard did it again.
The freshman right-hander from Central High School dominated Mississippi State in a 4-0 shutout win helping LSU take the series Saturday afternoon.
In the top of the sixth inning, pitching coach Alan Dunn made a mound visit to calm Hilliard down after loading the bases. And, with the Alex Box Stadium crowd on their feet chanting L-S-U, the freshman spun off another devastating curveball, this time catching the inner half on a back-door breaking ball freezing Elijah MacNamee for his ninth strikeout of the day a new career-high.
In Hilliard's first four starts he's now 3-1 having allowed three earned runs in 23.1 innings (1.16 ERA) while striking out 26 batters.
Offensively LSU got some insurance runs courtesy of a pair of late hoemruns by Daniel Cabrera and Zach Watson.