Mississippi State desperately needed a series win against No. 1 LSU to shore up its fading NCAA Tournament hopes.

Instead, the Bulldogs will go into today’s series finale just trying to salvage something from another lost weekend.

Alex Bregman and Conner Hale drove in three runs apiece, Hunter Newman threw three innings of shutout relief, and LSU beat Mississippi State for the second consecutive day, 11-4 Friday night in Starkville.

Mississippi State (23-24, 7-16 Southeastern Conference) lost its seventh SEC series in eight weekends. It has lost 12 of its last 14 games overall.

Bregman finished the game with three hits. He had an RBI double in the fourth inning, drove in a run with a fielder’s choice in the third, and an RBI single in the ninth.

Hale singled twice as the Tigers totaled 17 hits in the game and won their ninth consecutive SEC road game and for the 11th time in 12 games overall.

LSU (40-7, 16-6) never trailed, but didn’t put the game away until scoring four times in the ninth inning. Chris Sciambra keyed the rally with an RBI double, while Bregman and Jared Foster each had an RBI single.

LSU reached the 40-win mark for the seventh time in nine seasons under coach Paul Mainieri.

Luke Reynolds, Jacob Robson and Reid Humphreys all had two hits apiece for Mississippi State. Humphreys drove in two runs.