Jace Vines and Brigham Hill scattered seven hits as Texas A&M defeated LSU 6-1 in the opening game of their Southeastern Conference series at Blue Bell Park in College Station on Thursday night.

HOW THEY SCORED

Texas A&M first inning – J.B. Moss singled and advanced to second on a wild pitch by Jared Poche. Moss went to third on an infield single by Ryne Birk. After Boomer White struck out, Moss scored on a sacrifice fly to the rightfielder by Hunter Melton. TEXAS A&M 1, LSU 0

Texas A&M second inning – Michael Barash walked and Walker Pennington singled. Nick Choruby forced Pennington at second on a ground ball to the second baseman. Barash scored on George Janca’s safety squeeze bunt. TEXAS A&M 2, LSU 0

LSU sixth inning – Jake Fraley tripled and scored on a single by Antoine Duplantis. TEXAS A&M 2, LSU 1

Texas A&M seventh inning – Janca walked. After Moss flied out to the centerfielder, Birk singled. Janca scored on a single by White. A walk to Melton loaded the bases. Birk scored on a walk to Nick Banks. TEXAS A&M 4, LSU 1

Texas A&M eighth inning – Choruby singled and stole second base. Choruby moved to third on a sacrifice bunt by Janca. Choruby scored on Moss’ single. Moss stole second and third. After Birk walked, Moss scored on a single by White. TEXAS A&M 6, LSU 1

LSU MISSED SCORING OPPORTUNITIES

First inning – With one out, Fraley singled and stole second. Fraley was picked off second base by Vines. Duplantis grounded out to the first baseman.

Third inning – With one out, Cole Freeman walked and stole second. Freeman advanced to third on a single by Kramer Robertson. Fraley struck out and Duplantis flied out to the centerfielder.

Fifth inning – Michael Papierski doubled. Greg Deichmann flied out to the centerfielder. Freeman flied out to the rightfielder. Robertson grounded out to the shortstop.

Seventh inning – Bryce Jordan walked. After Papierski popped out to the third baseman, Deichmann singled. Deichmann was forced at second on Freeman’s ground ball to the shortstop. After Freeman stole second, Robertson flied out to the leftfielder.

Ninth inning – Brody Wofford doubled. Bryce Jordan grounded out to the third baseman. Papierski flied out to the leftfielder. Deichmann grounded out to the shortstop.

PLAYER OF THE GAME

Fraley was the lone LSU player to collect more than one hit. Fraley singled in the first and tripled in the sixth. He scored the Tigers’ only run in the sixth on a single by Duplantis. Fraley stole a base, but was picked off second in the first. He struck out with runners at first and third and two out in the third. Fraley has hit safely in his last four games during which time he is 7-for-18.

ABOUT THE HITTERS

It was another night when LSU had very little timely hitting. The Tigers stranded seven runners – five in scoring position. LSU was 2-for-11 with runners in scoring position. Robertson had a single in the third, but Freeman had to be held at third base. Duplantis singled home Fraley from third in the sixth. Both Deichmann and Freeman were 0-for-2 with runners in scoring position. . .LSU got a runner to third with less than two out just twice. . .Three starters did not get a hit – Beau Jordan (0-for-4), Bryce Jordan (0-for-2) and Freeman (0-for-2). . .Tigers batters struck out only four times.

ABOUT THE PITCHERS

Poche gave the Tigers five good innings, but the bullpen failed to keep the Texas A&M lead at one run. Poche was relieved by Doug Norman after issuing a leadoff walk in the sixth. Poche, who lost his third straight start, gave up single runs in the first and second innings. Poche pitched well in the clutch as the Aggies left four runners in scoring position in five innings. He struck out Banks with a runner at second and two out in the first. Poche struck out Moss with a runner at second and two out in the second. He retired Banks on a fly out to Duplantis in rightfield with the bases loaded and two out in the fifth. Poche gave up five hits, walked four – one intentionally – and struck out five. . .Norman pitched a scoreless sixth, but allowed two base runners in the seventh on a walk and a single. . .Parker Bugg was totally ineffective in his one inning. He permitted two inherited runners to score in the seventh on a single by White and a bases-loaded walk to Banks. In the eighth, Bugg allowed three hits and walked one. Two of those runners scored. . .Austin Bain faced one batter and got an inning-ending double play. . .Norman and Bugg gave up four runs and five hits in 2.1 innings. They walked four and struck out two.

NOTES

Wofford was the designated hitter with Deichmann the third baseman. Papierski was back as the starting catcher. . .Robertson extended his hitting streak to eight games with his third-inning single. Deichmann extended his hitting streak to five games with his single in the seventh. . .LSU had a chance to take the lead in the seventh. Trailing 2-1, the Tigers had runners at second and third with two out. But, Hill got Robertson to fly out to the leftfielder. . .Papierski threw out one base runner trying to steal, but the Aggies stole six bases. . .The top three hitters in the Texas A&M lineup – Moss, Birk and White – were a combined 8-for-13. Moss and White each had three hits. Moss scored two runs and White drove in two runs. The rest of the Aggies batting order had just two hits. . .Texas A&M was retired in order just once. The Aggies had 18 batters reach base – ten on hits and eight on walks. . .Vines gave up one run and five hits before being relieved by Hill after a leadoff walk in the seventh. Vines walked two and struck out four. . .Hill permitted two batters to reach base in his three innings – Deichmann with a single in the seventh and Wofford with a double in the ninth. . .Neither team committed an error. . .LSU is 15-6 overall, 1-3 in the SEC. The Tigers have lost three of their first four conference games for the first time since 2011. Texas A&M is 20-2 overall, 3-1 in the SEC. The Aggies and Mississippi State, which beat Georgia on Thursday night, are tied for first in the Western Division. . .The paid attendance was 4,477.

FROM THE LOCKER ROOM

Coach Paul Mainieri’s comments: “Jared Poche really battled as he always does and he kept us in the game. Unfortunately, we didn’t take advantage of some of the scoring opportunities we had. Texas A&M was ultimately able to extend its lead against our bullpen. We competed extremely hard, but we have to play better. There were a few key moments in the game where we fell short and that proved to be the difference.”

UP NEXT

LSU will play Texas A&M in the second game of their SEC series at Blue Bell Park in College Station on Friday. First pitch is set for 8 p.m. Central. Alex Lange (2-1) will be the starting pitcher for the Tigers. The LSU-Texas A&M game will be broadcast on the SEC Network.

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