The last time Texas A&M baseball came into Alex Box Stadium in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, they were looking for answers. In 2022, the Aggies were 10-6 on the season, and faced off against LSU for their first SEC series of the year.
The Maroon and White managed to take two out of three from the then-No. 8 Tigers. Now, the Aggies come back two years later in a much different situation: as the No. 1 team in the country.
LSU, the defending national champions, has not maintained its championship caliber from last year. Before Friday night, the Bayou Bengals sat at 27-19, 7-14 conference play and were projected out of regional play.
Despite this, the Tigers rallied to take Game 1 from A&M, the first time the Aggies have lost a series opener since Florida and only the second time this year. Sophomore LHP Ryan Prager, who came into the matchup 8-0, suffered his first loss of the season.
Despite only mustering four runs, well below the team average, the Maroon and White did not fall because of a lack of scoring. In fact, LSU did not beat them, they beat themselves. A&M had three errors — their most of the season — that led to three runs for the Tigers.
Freshman 3B Gavin Grahovac has been a shining newcomer for the Aggies this season. The Orange, California native is hitting .332 with 16 home runs on the year. However, after missing his first game of the season against Tarleton State to rest a leg injury suffered in the series finale against Georgia, Grahovac seemed rusty.
After LSU loaded the bases in the third inning with one out, junior Tiger 3B Tommy White grounded to Grahovac behind third base, setting up a double play from third to first. After stepping on the bag at third, the freshman’s throw to senior 1B Ted Burton went awry, soaring past Burton’s outstretched glove to score two for LSU before White was tagged out trying to reach third.
After LSU tied the game at two in the third, the Aggies took the lead right back in the fourth, as junior SS Ali Camarillo blasted a solo shot to left field — his second of the game. The Maroon and White remained in front until errors and timely LSU hitting delivered the finishing blow in the sixth inning.
Once again, White stepped up and with a runner on first hit a chopper to Grahovac, who bobbled the delivery to get the ball out of his hand, forcing a throw to second to try to get the lead run — freshman RF Ashton Larson — out at second. The throw went wide, forcing Camarillo to stretch out off the bag to stop the ball from flying into center field.
LSU then mounted a four-run frame, highlighted by a two-RBI double from junior LF Josh Pearson down the left-field line to give the Tigers their first and final lead of the night, as they only allowed a single run through the final three innings to secure a 6-4 victory.
LSU has now won nine of its last 11 games, and will look to secure its third-straight series win tomorrow at 6:30 p.m. For the Aggies, they will look to even the series and avoid their first series loss since the SEC opening series against Florida.
