Offense awakens as No. 1 Texas A&M salvages series in Baton Rouge

Game #48: No. 1 Texas A&M 14, Louisiana State 4
Records: Texas A&M (40-8, 16-8), Louisiana State (31-18, 9-15)
WP: Chris Cortez (7-2)
LP: Samuel Dutton (0-1)
Box Score

BATON ROUGE, La. — A visibly frustrated Jim Schlossnagle sat in the third-base dugout Saturday night.

His ballclub had just lost a second straight game to LSU at Alex Box Stadium.

Before he walked to the bus, he stopped for a short postgame media session.

The always-thoughtful Aggie skipper imparted some wisdom that also doubled as a prediction.

"If we're going to believe in the word 'good', then we're going to have to put it to use," Schlossnagle said Saturday. "I already know how our team is going to react, whether we win or not."

A&M's response might even make Jocko Willink smile.

Behind a better-than-good nine-run fifth inning, the top-ranked Aggies salvaged Sunday's series finale, 14-4.

"We got out of character really the whole weekend, to be honest with you," Schlossnagle said Sunday. "I knew our guys would respond well. Again, we responded decently the last two days. We just played bad. The only thing you can do about it is try to win the third game."

Through two and a half games in Baton Rouge, Aggie frustrations mounted.

In Sunday's middle frame, LSU pitching got pounded.

A 49-minute half-inning saw the Aggies go from down 3-0 to up 9-3.

Caden Sorrell's leadoff triple ignited the fifth-inning rally that saw the Aggies accumulate nine runs on eight hits and three walks.

Gavin Grahovac launched a three-run homer to put A&M ahead for good. Jackson Appel added insurance on a two-run blast.

Travis Chestnut registered two RBIs in the frame. Blake Binderup notched a pair of singles and an RBI. Grahovac drove in another as well.

"It's awesome," Grahovac said. "I expect myself to have some success and continue to be great. I don't ever look down on any outcome that I have in the game. You just got to keep playing, continue to move forward."

As if that wasn't enough offense, Kaeden Kent teed off with a ninth-inning grand slam, and Jace LaViolette hammered his 25th homer of the year.

Not to be lost in the offensive shuffle was the brilliance of Chris Cortez.

"I knew if I just kept putting zeroes up there that we were eventually going to come around and score some runs," the sophomore said. "That's what we did."

TexAgs

Caden Sorrell and Travis Chestnut each drew a game-high three walks in the win.

Replacing Tanner Jones with two down in the third, the right-handed fireballer stranded the bases loaded to keep the deficit at three.

Cortez then turned in four more scoreless frames of one-hit ball while fanning six Tigers.

"Honestly, the first batter, I don't think I was completely there, and then, I really just went one pitch at a time," Cortez said. "I stuck to that the entire game and that's what I usually do."

The outing allowed the Aggies time to pounce, and they bounced pitcher after pitcher.

In the fifth, Samuel Dutton surrendered four. Justin Loer coughed up three. Thatcher Hurd allowed two.

In the final frame, Cam Johnson and Will Hellmers were tagged for two and three, respectively.

The offensive conflagration eased early irritation.

"You just got to keep playing," Grahovac said. "It's baseball, man. If you have a bad game, you get another one the next day."

Brady Neal homered in the second. Josh Pearson plated another in the third.

Jamie Maury, TexAgs

Chris Cortez improved to 7-2 on the season after tossing 4.1 scoreless frames along with six strikeouts.

LSU's only other run came on Paxton Kling's RBI single with two down in the ninth.

But, as Jocko says: Good.

"Our dugout was just so out of character the first three innings," Schlossnagle admitted. "Low energy. 'Oh, woe is me, and here we go again.' That's not who we are, so hopefully we'll learn from it."

The vengeful victory was not just good. It was great.

It was also necessary.

In avoiding the sweep, A&M remains one game behind Arkansas in the SEC West divisional race.

An alleviating day also allows for a happier bus ride back to Aggieland.

"Super disappointed in the weekend, but super proud of getting this one," Schlossnagle said. "16-8 in the league. We got to 40 wins before we got to 10 losses. That's pretty good."

Emphasis on 'Good.’