LSU, which was won eight of its last 10 games, improved to 30-17 overall, 8-14 in the SEC. The teams resume the series at 6:30 p.m. CT Saturday in a game that will be broadcast on the LSU Sports Radio Network and televised on ESPN2.
by Bill Franques
BATON ROUGE, La. – LSU erased a 3-2 deficit Friday night with a four-run sixth inning, and the Tigers went on to post a 6-4 win over top-ranked Texas A&M in Alex Box Stadium, Skip Bertman Field.
LSU, which was won eight of its last 10 games, improved to 30-17 overall, 8-14 in the SEC, while the Aggies dropped to 39-7 overall and 15-7 in conference play.
The teams resume the series at 6:30 p.m. CT Saturday in a game that will be broadcast on the LSU Sports Radio Network and televised on ESPN2.
Texas A&M led 3-2 in the bottom of the sixth inning before the Tigers struck for four runs. Leftfielder Josh Pearson lined a two-run double, designated hitter Hayden Travinski lifted a sacrifice fly, and second baseman Steven Milam smacked an RBI single to highlight the rally.
The Aggies narrowed the gap to 6-4 in the eighth when designated hitter Hayden Schott delivered and RBI single, and Texas A&M had runners on the corners with two outs in the ninth, but LSU reliever Griffin Herring struck out rightfielder Braden Montgomery to end the game.
“I’m really proud of our team,” said LSU coach Jay Johnson. “I think the story of the night is that there were a lot of things that went wrong for us in the game, but the team showed tremendous poise, and that’s a really good step in the right direction.
“We’ve had to grow through some of the struggles of this season, but sometimes when things are the messiest, that’s when you develop the most, and hopefully we’re seeing the fruits of that right now.”
Herring earned his fourth save of the season, working the final 2.1 innings and allowing one unearned run on four hits with no walks and three strikeouts.
Fidel Ulloa (1-1), who entered the game in the sixth inning in relief of starter Gage Jump, posted his first career LSU win, firing 1.1 scoreless innings with one hit, no walks and one strikeout.
Texas A&M starter Ryan Prager (8-1) suffered his first loss of the season after surrendering four runs – two earned – on four hits in 5.0 innings with two walks and five strikeouts.
Jump pitched 5.1 innings for the Tigers and limited Texas A&M to three runs on six hits with no walks and four strikeouts.
The Aggies led 2-0 after a solo homer by centerfielder Jace LaViolette in the first inning and a solo shot by shortstop Ali Camarillo in the second inning.
LSU took advantage of an Aggie error in the third inning and tied the game with a pair of unearned runs on an errant throw by third baseman Gavin Grahovac.
Texas A&M reclaimed the lead in the fourth when Camarillo launched his second solo homer of the game, his sixth dinger of the year.