A&M ousted by the Tigers in final innings, 9-6

GAME #43: LSU 9, Texas A&M 6
RECORDS: LSU 37-6 (14-5), Texas A&M 36-7 (12-7)
WP: Russell Reynolds (4-0)
LP: Mark Ecker (3-1)
SAVE: Hunter Newman (3)

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BATON ROUGE, La - With their bullpen and lineup, the Aggies knew a good performance on the mound would give them a chance at victory.

A&M did one better.

It got Ryan Hendrix at his best and across the diamond; Alex Lange was at his worst. Yet in Friday night’s 9-6 loss, a chance was all the Aggies ended the night with.

While the end was not what the maroon and white came to the field for, they had to be pleased with how it all started.

For the second time in as many days, A&M struck first.

Coming off a terrific day at the plate where he went 3-4, Blake Allemand got the ball rolling with a single through the right side. After a pop put, the Ags took a page out of LSU’s book with a hit and run that eerily resembled the Tiger’s fourth inning play of yesterday.

The perfectly executed move gave A&M runners on the corners. A lead soon followed after Logan Taylor ripped the first pitch he saw back up the middle, easily scoring Allemand from third.

Then, A&M loaded the bases for the third consecutive inning and nothing came of it.

Creating small innings out of big chances cost A&M on Thursday and it hurt right away as LSU would tie things up in the bottom half.

With two outs, LSU followed a single with a stolen base to get the tying run in scoring position. The runner came around after Nick Banks misplayed a single through the right side, but it’s likely the Tigers would have scored regardless. The error, however, did allow Conner Hale to reach third.

That’s as far as he got and after allowing one more run in the second, Ryan Hendrix did not just put on the clamps. He did so in a big way.

Between the second and fifth innings, the right-hander retired ten in a row while flying past his career high strike out mark of six.

His offense responded to their chance over that stretch and for the first time all series, A&M had breathing room.

In the fourth, it was a double just inside the first baseline from Allemand that scored J.B. Moss. Two innings later, as they had so many times before, A&M loaded the bases. This time was different, this time they did not pull a punch.

After an intentional walk to Allemand, Alex Lange had to face the Aggies right fielder. With an opportunity to shine, Nick Banks drove a 1-0 offering back up the middle and scored two teammates. With all the momentum trending their way and LSU’s Lange having his worst start of the season, the Aggies appeared on their way to tying the series.

That’s when the number one team in the nation revved their engines and blew by their guests.

It began in the seventh. An inning that head coach Rob Childress was confident his starter could get through.

“I thought he might have a chance to finish the game. He was rolling.”

The start of the inning made his coach rethink his beliefs and thrust some arms into the bullpen. Hendrix gave up two Seeing Eye singles before another brought the first run of the frame home.

With runners on the corners, a bunt landed like a butterfly with sore feet just in front of the plate. When the suicide squeeze worked to perfection, the Aggies three run lead was down to a straight number.

That was the end for Hendrix and he didn’t quite see it coming, but knew exactly when it had arrived.

“After the first batter of the seventh inning, I felt like I was getting a little tired.” Hendrix continued on. “I didn’t (feel like I was tired heading into the inning) When I first came out, I felt like I could throw more, but after that first batter, I was tired.”

In came Mark Ecker and at the tail end of an 11 pitch at bat, a double down the left field line brought two more tigers home. At the time, the Tigers had taken a one run lead. They would push it further the next inning.

Three runs on three hits, amidst a pitching change and an error, spelled the end of the game for A&M.

While the Aggies will need to win Saturday to avoid going home empty handed, Blake Allemand does not feel like A&M played poorly.

“This is what one versus two is supposed to look like. Two equal teams going at it every night.” He was impressed with his team in almost all facets. “I thought we played our butts off. Hendrix pitched as well as I’ve ever seen him pitch and this is one where you tip your hat. They came and beat us.”

His head coach echoed the shortstop’s sentiments.

“There’s a good team in our dugout too. It was a couple of heavyweights throwing punches at each other. Give LSU credit, they got the big hits when it mattered.”

Through two games, the Tiger’s have outperformed A&M across the field, but one chance remains.

That chance comes Saturday at 1:00 PM