The famous saying “history repeats itself” came true on Sunday in Blue Bell Park.
The No. 15 ranked Texas A&M Aggies defeated top ranked LSU baseball 8-6 and handed the Tigers their second loss of the season. LSU dropped to 18-2 overall and 2-1 in conference play while the Aggies improved to 14-6 and 1-2 against the SEC.
Obviously, LSU was attempting to sweep the series, but the Aggies are a formidable opponent to say the least. The scoreboard from the first two games of the series reflected the Tigers’ hot bats and significantly improved pitching.
Texas A&M showed up to the ball game with the intention of winning and delivered on that idea. The Aggies were not deterred by the way they had dropped the beginning of the series.
If college baseball fans remember correctly, neither school has been able to sweep each other in a three-game series in their history. Texas A&M won the series 2-1 last year in Baton Rouge, lost 1-2 in College Station the year before and went 1-2 in Baton Rouge in 2019.
LSU’s bats jumped on the board early in the game after a bases loaded walk that scored junior first baseman Tre’ Morgan. West Monroe native and sophomore Josh Pearson kept the runs coming with a two RBI single. Shortstop Jordan Thompson completed the four-run inning with a run-scoring single that drove graduate student Gavin Dugas across home plate.
Hitting out of the three hole, the left-handed first baseman for the Aggies, Jack Moss, crushed a solo home run, his first of the year, against LSU’s starter Thatcher Hurd for Texas A&M’s first run of the game. Hurd only allowed two runs on four hits in 3.1 innings of pitching.
The Aggies’ starter, right hander Chris Cortez, only lasted 1.2 innings with five runs on four hits and finished with a 6.52 ERA. The pitching duo of right hander Justin Lamkin and left hander Will Johnston, who was credited with the win, fired 117 total pitches in the final seven innings, combined for eight strikeouts and only allowed a singular run. LSU’s bats cooled off after starter Cortez was pulled from the mound.
Shortstop Hunter Haas and center fielder Stanley Tucker went 6-7 at the plate and were the story of the ball game. At the top of the lineup, they carried the A&M offense and finished the game with the two best batting averages. Haas’s two RBI double against Riley Cooper in the bottom of the fifth inning cut LSU’s lead to one run and supplied hope to the loyal Aggie fans.
In the top of the seventh inning, freshman Brady Neal drove in LSU’s final run of the game on a fly out to left field that Pearson tagged up on.
Texas A&M snagged the lead in the bottom of the eighth inning and never gave it back. LSU’s right hander Christian Little, who was charged with the loss, allowed a scoring frenzy that began with a bases loaded walk and ended with three additional Aggie runs. Tucker smacked a two RBI single, and Haas added an insurance run with a second single in the inning.
One of the few positives in the loss for the Tigers is that the path to Omaha remains clear as they will likely control their own destiny.
Another positive is that LSU’s most consistent hitter Dylan Crews extended his hit streak to 18 games as he went 2-4 at the plate and accounted for two runs. Third baseman Tommy White and designated hitter Jared Jones also both had two hits in the game.
LSU baseball will return home to Baton Rouge for a Tuesday night matchup with Central Arkansas this week and then prepare for another much anticipated three game series in Alex Box Stadium against the Arkansas Razorbacks.
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