LSU beats Texas A&M, 3-2
LSU pushed across an unearned run in the ninth inning to defeat Texas A&M 3-2 in a Southeastern Conference game Friday night at Blue Bell Park in College Station.
HOW THEY SCORED
LSU third inning – Cole Freeman singled and stole second base. Kramer Robertson struck out and Jake Fraley flied out to the leftfielder. Antoine Duplantis singled and Freeman scored when first baseman Hunter Melton misplayed the ball. LSU 1, TEXAS A&M 0
Texas A&M fifth inning – Ronnie Gideon hit a home run over the leftfield fence. George Janca walked and moved to second on a wild pitch by Alex Lange. Janca advanced to third on J.B. Moss’ fly out to the rightfielder. After Ryne Birk struck out, Janca scored on a single by Boomer White. TEXAS A&M 2, LSU 1
LSU seventh inning – Greg Deichmann walked and was thrown out trying to steal second base by Michael Barash. Freeman doubled and advanced to third on a passed ball by Barash. Freeman scored on Robertson’s ground out to the shortstop. LSU 2, TEXAS A&M 2
LSU ninth inning – Deichmann singled and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Freeman. Deichmann scored on an error by the second baseman Birk on Robertson’s ground ball. LSU 3, TEXAS A&M 2
LSU MISSED SCORING OPPORTUNITIES
Second inning – With two out, Bryce Jordan was hit by a pitch and Michael Papierski singled. Deichmann flied out to the centerfielder.
Fourth inning – With one out, Bryce Jordan walked. Bryce Jordan advanced to second on Papierski’s ground out to the pitcher. Deichmann flied out to the rightfielder.
Sixth inning – With one out, Beau Jordan and Brody Wofford singled. Bryce Jordan flied out to the rightfielder and Papierski flied out to the leftfielder.
PLAYER OF THE GAME
Lange gave LSU just what it needed as he pitched into the seventh inning. Lange left the game with the score tied at 2-2 with a runner at first base and one out in the seventh. Lange gave up five hits, walked six – one intentional – and struck out 11. On three occasions, Lange ended the inning with a runner in scoring position. He struck out Janca with runners at first and second and two out in the second. Lange retired Melton on a ground out to the third baseman with a runner at third and two out in the fifth. Then, Lange struck out Moss with the bases loaded and two out in the sixth.
ABOUT THE HITTERS
It was another night in which LSU came up shy in nearly every run-producing situation. The Tigers stranded ten runners – four in scoring position. LSU was 1-for-11 with runners in scoring position. The one hit was an infield single by Duplantis which did not bring home a run. . .Freeman, who went 2-for-3, was the only Tigers player with more than one hit. . .The only starters without a hit were Robertson (0-for-5) and Fraley (0-for-3). . .Four LSU players had multiple strikeouts – three for Beau Jordan and two for Robertson, Duplantis and Wofford.
ABOUT THE PITCHERS
The bullpen did the job for the Tigers. . .Hunter Newman replaced Lange with a runner on first and one out in the seventh. He got out of the inning with the help of Papierski throwing out Birk trying to steal second base. Newman gave up a one-out single to Barash in the eighth. Newman was relieved by Caleb Gilbert after striking out Nick Choruby for the second out in the eighth. . .Gilbert issued a walk before striking out Janca. In the ninth, Gilbert yielded a leadoff single to Moss. Following a sacrifice bunt, Gilbert struck out White. The Aggies stayed alive when the third baseman Deichmann misplayed a ground ball by Melton. Gilbert closed out the game by striking out Nick Banks.
NOTES
There was no change in the LSU lineup – Deichmann was the third baseman and Wofford was the designated hitter. . .Robertson had his eight-game hitting streak end, while Fraley had a hitting streak end at four games. Deichmann extended his hitting streak to six games with a ninth-inning single, while Wofford now has a four-game hitting streak. . .Robertson was 0-for-3 with a runner in scoring position. However, he drove in a run with an infield out and the winning run scored when Birk made an error on his ground ball. . .Deichmann was 0-for-2 with runners in scoring position. . .Deichmann’s two-out ninth inning error was the only one of the game for the Tigers. . .All three of LSU’s runs were unearned due to two Texas A&M errors and a passed ball. . .Aggies starting pitcher Tyler Ivey gave up one unearned run and five hits in 5.2 innings. Ivey walked one and struck out seven. . .Texas A&M used five relievers. Mark Ecker was charged with two runs in 2.1 innings. . .Barash, who played his freshman season at LSU, and Choruby had two of the Aggies’ seven hits. . .The loss snapped a 19-game home winning streak for Texas A&M. . .The Tigers are 16-6 overall, 2-3 in the SEC. LSU trails SEC West leader Mississippi State by two games. Mississippi State beat Georgia 3-1 on Friday night. . .The Aggies are 20-3 overall, 3-2 in the SEC. . .The paid attendance was 6,436.
UP NEXT
LSU will play Texas A&M in the rubber game of their SEC series at Blue Bell Park in College Station on Saturday. First pitch is set for 2 p.m. Central. John Valek (4-0) will be the starting pitcher for the Tigers. The LSU-Texas A&M game will be broadcast on SEC Network+.