No. 10 Texas A&M baseball’s offense may be what’s making headlines, but it was its work on the mound that set the tone early against LSU.
Sophomore right-handed pitcher Aiden Sims got things started quickly for the Aggies, striking out the side in the bottom of the first. That performance set the tone for the rest of the game, as A&M clinched the series with a 7-2 win over the Bayou Bengals at Alex Box Stadium in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on Saturday, April 18. The win moves Sims’ season record to 7-0.
The Aggies’ offense quickly took advantage of Sims’ start on the mound, as in the second inning, freshman right fielder Jorian Wilson delivered an RBI single through the left side that scored freshman third baseman Nico Partida, who reached on a single to third base and reached second on a wild pitch, for the first run of the game.
Then, junior catcher Bear Harrison made his presence felt, as he launched a two-run homer straight into a rather unhappy grouping of Tiger fans in the left field stands and gave A&M a 3-0 lead.
Of course, LSU wasn’t likely to let that go unanswered, especially with the Tigers reeling after a 10-4 loss to the Aggies in the series opener on Friday. Junior shortstop Steven Milam responded to Harrison’s bomb with a home run of his own, this one a solo shot to right field, to cut the gap down to 3-1.
The joy of the Tiger faithful was short-lived, however, as junior first baseman Gavin Grahovac interrupted an in-game interview with LSU head coach Jay Johnson with a cannon-shot home run — his 10th homer in his past 12 games.
A lineout by senior designated hitter Jake Duer allowed junior center fielder Caden Sorrell to score from third after he singled and junior second baseman Chris Hacopian doubled to left field. While A&M did leave a pair of runners stranded to end the top of the third, it held a 5-1 advantage and had LSU reeling early.
As if the gap wasn’t enough, the Maroon and White added an insurance run in the fifth inning after Sorrell doubled down the left field line and all the way to the wall before advancing to third on a wild pitch and being sent home on a sac fly by Hacopian.
LSU pulled one back in the bottom of the fifth thanks to an RBI fielder’s choice by senior left fielder Chris Stanfield, but the story of the middle innings belonged firmly to Sims, who issued his first walk of the game in the fifth inning after already recording six strikeouts.
Meanwhile, the Aggies loaded the bases in the sixth inning thanks to a trio of walks that forced the Tigers to pull sophomore RHP William Schmidt off the mound and replace him with senior RHP Connor Benge in hopes of getting the hosts out of the jam with Grahovac up to bat.
Schmidt exited after 5.1 innings of work, recording four strikeouts while giving up four walks, seven hits and seven runs.
But Grahovac would not be denied, sending a bloop single into shallow right field that drove in Wilson and made it a 7-2 game. That swiftly ended Benge’s day after facing just a single batter, as sophomore LHP Cooper Williams entered the game, swiftly struck out Sorrell and promptly left the mound to be replaced by freshman RHP Zion Theophilus, who forced Hacopian into a ground out as A&M left the bases loaded.
Sims’ stellar outing came to a close in the eighth, as junior RHP Clayton Freshcorn entered the game. The Aggies’ starter exited after seven full innings of work, in which he gave up only three hits and two runs while tallying six strikeouts and issuing two walks.
Meanwhile, LSU relied on a litany of relievers — the Tigers made five calls to their bullpen, and only freshman RHP Marcos Paz lasted more than a single inning.
Despite A&M leaving a pair of runners stranded in the ninth inning, LSU’s bullpen — primarily, Paz — was able to keep the Maroon and White from adding more insurance runs to their 7-2 lead, while Freshcorn secured the Aggies’ victory on the mound by giving up just two hits in his two innings pitched while recording a pair of strikeouts.
Next, A&M goes for the series sweep on Sunday, April 19, at 1 p.m. with television coverage airing on ESPN.
