Rewind: LSU 7, Texas A&M 4
Jared Poche allowed two runs in seven innings and Kramer Robertson drove in three runs as LSU defeated Texas A&M 7-4 to even their Southeastern Conference series Friday night at The Box.
HOW THEY SCORED
LSU third inning – With one out, Zach Watson doubled and advanced to third on a single by Cole Freeman. Watson scored on a single by Antoine Duplantis. Freeman moved to third and Duplantis went to second on a throwing error on a pickoff attempt at second base by pitcher Stephen Kolek. Freeman and Duplantis scored on a double by Robertson. LSU 3, TEXAS A&M 0
LSU fifth inning – Duplantis singled and stole second base. After Robertson flied out to the leftfielder, Duplantis advanced to third base on Greg Deichmann’s ground out to the first baseman. Duplantis scored on a single by Josh Smith. LSU 4, TEXAS A&M 0
Texas A&M seventh inning – Austin Homan singled and Walker Pennington hit a two-run homer over the leftfield fence. LSU 4, TEXAS A&M 2
LSU seventh inning – Robertson hit a leadoff home run over the leftfield bleachers. Deichmann hit a solo home run over the rightfield fence. LSU 6, TEXAS A&M 2
LSU eighth inning – With two out, Robertson singled. Robertson stole second and went to third base on a wild pitch by Tristen Bayless. Walks to Deichmann and Smith loaded the bases. Robertson scored on a walk to Beau Jordan. LSU 7, TEXAS A&M 2
Texas A&M ninth inning – Homan doubled. Homan was thrown out at third base on Pennington’s ground ball to the shortstop. After Nick Choruby grounded out to the second baseman, Cole Bedford hit a two-run homer over the leftfield fence. LSU 7 TEXAS A&M 4
KEY STRETCH OF GAME
LSU certainly needed to get on the scoreboard first and they did in the third inning when it benefitted from some good fortune. With one out, Watson doubled down the leftfield line. Freeman dumped a single into rightfield with Watson stopping at third base. Duplantis slapped a ground ball through the left side of the infield to put the Tigers in front 1-0. After the two runners moved up a base on a wild pickoff throw by Kolek, Robertson bounced a ball over the head of third baseman George Janca for a two-run double. LSU never trailed the rest of the night.
KEY TEAM STATISTICS
LSU outhit Texas A&M 13-10. Both teams had two doubles and two home runs. . .The Aggies committed the only error in the game. . .The Texas A&M bullpen gave up three runs and five hits in 2.1 innings. . .LSU stranded 12 runners – six in scoring position. The Tigers were 4-for-15 with runners in scoring position.
INDIVIDUAL STAT LEADERS
LSU
Kramer Robertson: 3-for-4, 3 RBIs, 2 runs scored, 1 double, 1 home run
Cole Freeman: 2-for-4, 1 run scored
Rankin Woley: 2-for-4
Antoine Duplantis: 2-for-5, 2 runs scored, 1 RBI
Jared Poche: 7 innings, 8 hits, 2 runs, 2 earned runs, 2 walks, 5 strikeouts
TEXAS A&M
Austin Homan: 3-for-4, 1 run scored, 1 double
Nick Choruby: 2-for-4, 1 double
Cole Bedford: 2-for-5, 2 RBIs, 1 run scored, 1 home run
Walker Pennington: 1-for-4, 2 RBIs, 2 runs scored, 1 home run
Stephen Kolek: 5.2 innings, 8 hits, 4 runs, 3 earned runs, 2 walks, 2 strikeouts
LSU’S PLAYER OF THE GAME
Poche gave the Tigers just what they needed – a quality start. Poche held Texas A&M scoreless until Pennington hit his two-run homer in the seventh. In three of the first four innings, the Aggies put a runner in scoring position against Poche. Texas A&M was 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position against Poche. The one hit – a single by Logan Foster – loaded the bases with one out in the fourth. Poche than struck out Homan and retired Pennington on a pop up to Robertson at shortstop. The victory was the sixth of the year for Poche. He now has 33 career victories which ties him with Stan Loewer for third place on LSU’s all-time list.
Poche’s comments: “Early on, I was crisp. I made a few mistakes and I pitched out of it. If I could avoid having runners on base, I would do that. If I let runners on, I have to pitch out of it. My goal is to throw as many zeros as possible. I was doing well until the seventh when I threw a ball down the middle and (Pennington) hit it out.”
NOTES
Woley replaced Jake Slaughter in the starting lineup at first base. Duplantis and Watson again swapped outfield positions. Duplantis was back in leftfield and Watson was in centerfield. . .Robertson had just three hits in his previous 31 at-bats before Friday’s game. Duplantis was just 4-for-26 before getting two hits Friday. . .The top four batters in the LSU lineup – Freeman, Duplantis, Robertson and Deichmann – had a total of only 11 hits in the previous five games. Those four players combined for eight hits Friday. . .Jordan extended his hitting streak to five games with a single in the seventh. . .Hunter Newman made his first appearance in three weekends and threw a perfect eighth inning in which he recorded three strikeouts. . .Todd Peterson allowed Bedford’s two-run homer in the ninth. . .LSU is 19-9 overall, 5-3 in the SEC. The Tigers are tied with Mississippi State for third place in the SEC West – 1½ games behind Arkansas and Auburn. . .The Aggies are 18-10 overall, 2-6 in the SEC. Texas A&M is in sixth place in the Western Division – 4½ games behind Arkansas and Auburn. . .The paid attendance was 11,308. . .Eric Walker will be the starting pitcher against Texas A&M on Saturday.
FROM THE LOCKERROOM
Coach Paul Mainieri’s comments: “That was a great effort by (third baseman) Josh Smith to start that double play in the third inning. Our crowd reacts to good defensive plays. We then went out in the bottom of the inning and got four hits in a row. We got the monkey off our back. Our guys now think they can hit and can score some runs. Jared Poche just feels comfortable pitching in those spots with runners on base. The highlight of the evening was Hunter Newman. His command was outstanding. That was good to see.”
UP NEXT
LSU will play host to Texas A&M in the series finale at The Box on Saturday. First pitch is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. Central. The LSU-Texas A&M game will be available on ESPN2.