By RON HIGGINS, Journal Sports
BATON ROUGE – Lose your first five SEC series in the first half of league play and then spend the second half trying to escape the self-made abyss.
Win a couple of series vs. SEC bottom feeders to resuscitate hopes for an NCAA Tournament berth.
Research the records over the years for the minimum number of wins in SEC play it takes for a team to get into the NCAA tourney field. Check out the NCAA RPI. Figure ways to avoid sitting out the postseason.
Defending national champion LSU (29-17, 7-14) has done all of the above but hasn’t won a series against a ranked team. The Tigers are 4-9 vs. ranked teams and get their last chance to win a series in the regular season over a ranked team when they open a three-game SEC series vs. No. 1 Texas A&M (39-6, 15-6) at 7 p.m. tonight in Alex Box Stadium.
“When you are where we are, it’s a benefit to have a team with as good as a record still left on your schedule,” LSU head coach Jay Johnson said. “I look at it as a great opportunity. It’s great this series is at home. The team has been in a good frame of mind the last two weeks.”
The Tigers’ competition lightened substantially in the last two SEC weekends in winning series 2 games to 1 each at Missouri and home vs. Auburn.
Both teams don’t have anywhere near the talent of the four top-ranked teams (Arkansas, Florida, Vanderbilt and Tennessee) that LSU lost to in the first half of conference play. And now comes Texas A&M, the second No. 1 ranked team (Arkansas was the first) LSU has faced this year.
“We are better, but we still haven’t played our best,” said grad student designated hitter/catcher Hayden Travinski, the former Bossier City Airline star who’s hitting .301 with 14 homers and 43 RBI. “And that’s funny to say coming down the stretch. But I think that with the talent we have when those goals line up and we execute, I think really special things are going to happen.”
It needs to take place this weekend. Time is running out on the Tigers as they attempt to rally for an NCAA Tournament at-large invitation. They have nine remaining SEC games, three each vs. A&M, then at Alabama and finally home against Ole Miss to close the regular season.
The Aggies have won six straight SEC series. They are off their best start overall since 1993 and their best-ever start in league play.
“They are a very complete team, they don’t have a lot of holes,” Johnson said of A&M. “Offensively, they have power. They get free bases and they run the base as well. From the mound, they are very left-handed with some good right-handed relievers sprinkled in.”
Gage Jump and Luke Holman, LSU’s Game 1 and Game 2 starting pitchers, vastly improved the last two weeks. But they’ll have a huge challenge vs. the Aggies, who’ve averaged 10.7 runs in the last 13 games.
The first three hitters in A&M’s batting order – third baseman Gavin Grahovac, center fielder Jace LaViolette and right fielder Braden Montgomery – have combined for 186 of the Aggies’ 403 RBI.
No. 1 Texas A&M (39-6, 15-6 SEC) at LSU (29-17, 7-14 SEC)
SCHEDULE/PITCHING MATCHUP
Game 1: Tonight, 7 p.m. CT (ESPN2 and SEC Network)
LSU –So. LH Gage Jump (4-1, 3.62 ERA, 49.2 IP, 16 BB, 63 SO)
A&M – So. LH Ryan Prager (8-0, 2.59 ERA, 59.0 IP, 9 BB, 80 SO)
Game 2: Saturday, 6:30 p.m. CT (ESPN2)
LSU –Jr. RH Luke Holman (6-3, 2.63 ERA, 61.2 IP, 21 BB, 88 SO)
A&M – So. LH Justin Lamkin (2-1, 4.47 ERA, 46.1 IP, 15 BB, 59 SO)
Game 3: Sunday, 1 p.m. CT (SEC Network+)
LSU – TBA
A&M – TBA
LSU-A&M SERIES
Texas A&M leads the all-time series with LSU 31-28-1. Also, the Aggies lead the series, 16-15, in the 31 games played between the schools since Texas A&M began playing baseball in the SEC in 2013.
A LOOK AT LSU – In his last two starts versus Missouri and Auburn, LSU starting pitcher Gage Jump has allowed only one run on five hits in 14.0 innings with one walk and 20 strikeouts. . .Freshman outfielder Ashton Larson is hitting a team-high .412 (21-for-51) in SEC games this season with six doubles, three homers, nine RBI and 10 runs scored.
A LOOK AT TEXAS A&M – Texas A&M is No. 2 in the SEC with a .315 team batting average, and third in home runs with 102. . .The A&M pitching staff is No. 2 in the SEC with a 3.87 ERA and third in the league in strikeouts pitched with 477 in 391 innings.
Contact Ron at ronhigginsmedia@gmail.com