BATON ROUGE, La. — Mississippi State’s sluggish offense returned on Saturday, and it led to another mark in the loss column.

Ma’Khail Hilliard threw six shutout innings, Daniel Cabrera and Zach Watson backed him with home runs, and LSU beat Mississippi State 4-0 in the finale of a three-game series at Alex Box Stadium.

Mississippi State (14-15, 2-7 Southeastern Conference) scored one run in its two losses in the series and is averaging less than two runs per game in SEC play. It has lost all three of its league series so far.

Cabrera hit a two-run home run for LSU (18-11, 5-4) in the seventh inning, and Watson added a solo shot in the eighth. Austin Bain drove in the other run with a double in the second inning.

Hilliard (6-1) allowed only three hits and two walks in his six-inning stint. He finished with nine strikeouts. Nick Bush pitched two innings of scoreless relief for his first save of the season.

Mississippi State starter Jacob Billingsley (2-2) allowed two runs, three hits and three walks while striking out seven in 6 1/3 innings.

“Jacob had an outstanding effort for us today,” Mississippi State coach Gary Henderson said. “That’s what you need in the rubber game of a three-game series. We just couldn’t get the key hit at the right time. We need to clean up some things in the bullpen. However, the starting pitching was great. We had three strong starts.”