Brigham Hill had been searching to regain his early season form for his last three starts, and he found it in a big way in Thursday night’s SEC contest against No. 6 LSU.
The Aggies (18-9, 2-5 SEC) found some offense, too, and made sure Hill’s brilliance did not go to waste as A&M defeated the Tigers 4-0 at Alex Box Stadium.
Hill (5-2) tossed eight flawless innings, striking out seven and walking two. He did not allow a single LSU baserunner to get into scoring position on the night, and Mitchell Kilkenny threw a scoreless ninth inning to secure the victory.
LSU’s Alex Lange (3-3) was almost as good on the mound, but Nick Choruby tagged him for a two-run home run in the fifth inning to break a scoreless tie, and that was more than enough run support for Hill. Lange struck out 12 in eight innings, but was still saddled with the loss. Thursday marked the second-straight start where the Tigers (18-9, 4-3) have not scored with him on the mound.
Hill commanded his fastball to both sides of the plate and had his changeup working as a reliable out pitch. With his pitch count at 100 after seven innings, A&M head coach Rob Childress elected to send his ace out for the eighth. Hill surrendered a leadoff single to Beau Jordan, but then used a changeup low in the zone to induce a double play off the bat of Jake Slaughter.
Later in the inning, with a runner on first and two outs and a 3-2 count to Zach Watson, Hill delivered one of his best changeups of the night. It looked like a strike until it dove into the dirt before reaching the plate, and Watson swung through it to end the inning.
Then in the top of the ninth the Aggies tacked on two valuable insurance runs. Jorge Gutierrez, Austin Homan and Walker Pennington all reached base consecutively to start the frame and, after a Choruby strikeout, Cole Bedford came through with a big hit. The Aggies’ catcher waited back on a slow curveball from LSU reliever Matthew Beck and grounded it through the left side, plating pinch runner Tommy Gillman and Homan.
Kilkenny ultimately did not need the added cushion, though, as he pitched around a leadoff single in the ninth to clinch the win for the Aggies.
The series resumes Friday in Baton Rouge, as Stephen Kolek takes the mound against the Tigers’ Jared Poche at 8 p.m.