Game #19: No. 13 LSU 7, Texas A&M 6
Records: Texas A&M (12-7, 2-1), LSU (15-5, 1-2)
WP: Riley Cooper (1-1)
LP: Jacob Palisch (2-2)
Box Score
Short of a sweep.
Eyeing its first sweep of LSU in program history, Texas A&M suffered a tough loss to the 13th-ranked Tigers in the Sunday finale at Alex Box Stadium, 7-6. The Aggies exhibited no killer instinct, and LSU took advantage, scoring five runs in their final four at-bats in the comeback effort.
“I think over the course of the weekend, we learned a lot about our team,” Texas A&M head coach Jim Schlossnagle said. “Our competitive spirit for the rest of the year can’t be any less than this.”
Cole Eskew, TexAgs
In his first SEC start, Prager allowed four runs across 4.1 innings of work.
Missed opportunities plagued the Aggies as they amassed 17 hits but left 14 men stranded. In fact, A&M left a man aboard in the first seven frames and left them loaded in the third, sixth and seventh innings.
“The baseball stuff is going to come and go,” Schlossnagle said. “We are who we are as a team, but the competitive spirit was the best it has been all year.”
Wasted chances ultimately led to a squandered 6-2 lead.
The Tigers scored twice in the fifth by chasing Ryan Prager after 4.1 innings pitched. Cade Doughty, the first batter reliever Robert Hogan faced, singled to left, scoring Tyler McManus. The very next batter, Dylan Crews, narrowly beat a would-be inning-ending double play, allowing Tre’ Morgan to cut A&M’s lead to 6-4.
Hogan lasted just two hitters before Jacob Palisch took over as the Stanford transfer stopped the bleeding in the fifth. However, the sixth saw the home nine finally pull even as the Tigers took advantage of back-to-back hit-by-pitches. Brayden Jobert and Morgan provided RBI singles to force to knot things up.
With the bases loaded and two outs in the bottom of the eighth, Crews singled to left off Chris Cortez, allowing the inherited Giovanni DiGiacomo to score the game-winning run.
Prager’s ERA jumped from 1.35 to 2.59 as he was tagged for four earned runs. Palisch surrendered the final three runs and picked up his second loss of the season.
Early on, an Aggie sweep felt imminent. Four consecutive singles by the visitors in the first scored a pair as Troy Claunch and Brett Minnich recorded first-inning RBIs. To kick off the fourth, Logan Britt smashed his third homer of the year to the opposite field in right-center, building the Aggie advantage to 3-0.
“The baseball stuff is going to come and go. We are who we are as a team, but the competitive spirit was the best it has been all year.”
- A&M head coach Jim Schlossnagle
Even after LSU scored twice vs. Prager in the bottom of the fourth, the Aggies answered right back as Minnich and Dylan Rock launched back-to-back homers to chase LSU starter Ma’Khail Hilliard after just 12 outs. A&M added another in the fifth to make it 6-2, but the lead did not hold.
“Today, we gave up too many free bases,” Schlossnagle said. “We hit two guys to let them tie the game. We had walks in there and an error, and we didn’t capitalize on even more opportunities that we had to extend the lead.”
Despite the recurring issues of blown leads and minimal timely hitting resurfacing on Sunday, the Aggies return to College Station with a 2-1 record in the SEC following the first weekend of league play. The series win provides much-needed momentum for the Maroon & White.
“One thing that we had to get better out of our team was that we had to show better competitive grit and spirit,” Schlossnagle said. “I thought we showed that all weekend.”
Texas A&M returns to action on Tuesday as they travel to Houston to face Rice at Reckling Park. First pitch between the Ags and Owls is set for 7 p.m. CT.
