By RON HIGGINS, Journal Sports
BATON ROUGE – It took until the last third of LSU’s SEC baseball schedule, but the defending national champions Tigers’ NCAA tourney hopes are no longer in intensive care and are now breathing on their own.
That’s not to say head coach Jay Johnson’s team is out of the woods and not susceptible to a relapse.
But after taking Johnson’s “every game is a Game 7” approach, the Tigers provided their postseason bid resume with the biggest boost of a tough season by winning a home series over No. 1 ranked Texas A&M over the weekend in an energized Alex Box Stadium.
LSU (31-18, 9-15) took the series with a pair of 6-4 victories in Games 1 and 2 on Friday and Saturday nights before losing to Aggies (40-8, 16-8) 14-4 in Sunday afternoon’s Game 3.
As much as the Tigers would have loved their first conference series sweep of the season, there was little disappointment in LSU winning its third straight SEC series after losing its first five league series including four to top 6 nationally ranked teams.
The factors that plagued the Tigers in series losses to Mississippi State, then-No. 6 Florida, then-No. 1 Arkansas, then-No. 6 Vanderbilt and then-No. 4 Tennessee – shaky starting pitching and timely hitting – held up for the first 22 innings vs. A&M before imploding in the fifth inning of Sunday’s Game 3.
“We played about as good as we have all year for 22 innings and we just kind of ran out of bullets against a lineup of that caliber,” Johnson said. “I don’t think we could have pitched better for 22 innings. We laid it all out there for two nights. That’s why it’s hard to sweep a good team.”
In Friday’s series opener, LSU starting pitcher Gage Jump gave up a pair of homers and 3 runs in 5.1 innings. Even though the Aggies led 2-0 after the first two innings, he navigated out of trouble.
Trailing 3-2, the Tigers’ bats busted loose in a 4-run sixth off three A&M pitchers, starting with Josh Pearson ripping a 2-run double down the left field.
“I went into the at-bat and I had a good plan,” said Pearson, who hit new A&M reliever Kaiden Wilson’s 3-2 pitch. “I was the first batter he (Wilson) faced, so I was able to go over my approach (during Wilson’s warmup). I saw every pitch he threw.”
LSU’s 6-3 lead held up, thanks to relievers Fidel Ulloa and Griffin Herring holding the potent Aggies to 1 run in the final 3.2 innings. Herring struck out A&M’s Braden Montgomery, ranked third nationally in RBI and fourth in home runs, to end the game with runners on first and second.
The Aggies lost despite winning all four replay reviews, including an apparent solo homer by LSU’s Hayden Travinski being ruled an eighth inning-ending out because of apparent fan interference.
“I never seen four video review calls overturned in a game, let alone against one team,” Johnson said.
In Saturday’s Game 2, Holman, like Game 1 starter Jump, was slow out of the gate. He allowed 3 first-inning runs on 3 runs and 2 hits.
The Tigers tied the game with a 3-run third inning, jumpstarted by back-to-back solo homers by Tommy White and Jared Jones.
Yet that momentum almost disappeared in the A&M fourth when Holman gave up a single and two straight walks to load the bases with no outs. Normally stoic, he pounded his glove in frustration after issuing the latter walk.
“When that happens,” Johnson said noting Holman’s displeasure, “it can be very bad or very good.”
Holman’s response was spectacular. He recorded three consecutive strikeouts on nine pitches, getting the last two outs against Gavin Grahovac and Jace LaViolette, who had combined 40 homers and 115 RBI this season.
“I hate walks,” Holman said. “I was mentally not there, the first inning was terrible. I got on the horse and said, `Let’s lock in and get the job done.’ Coach (Johnson) has a lot of trust in me. I probably would have taken myself out.”
LSU broke the tie with a run in the seventh spurred by a pair of wild pitches by A&M reliever Evan Aschenbeck. But a 2-run LSU eighth powered by RBI singles from Alex Milazzo and White and 3.2 innings of almost flawless pitching from reliever Christian Little got the Tigers across the finish line.
“I was just trying to fill up the strike zone,” said Little, who allowed 2 hits and 1 run while striking out 6 and walking 1. “They’ve got a really good team. I really didn’t want to give them too much leeway.”
In Sunday’s Game 3 in a battle of remaining available pitching arms on each staff, it was LSU taking a 3-0 lead. Catcher Brady Neal hammered a 2-run second-inning homer and Pearson slapped a third-inning RBI single.
But finally, the A&M team that entered the weekend ranked fourth nationally in home runs unloaded.
The Aggies’ 9-run fifth-inning explosion off four LSU relievers featured 8 hits including Grahovac’s 3-run homer, a 2-run blast by Jackson Appel, 2 triples and 4 singles. Pinch-hitter Kaaden Kent’s grand slam homer and a LaViolette solo shot in A&M’s 5-run ninth concluded the Aggies’ 4-dinger day.
Even the sting of Sunday’s 10-run beatdown, when the Tigers were unexpectedly playing with house money, couldn’t dampen the euphoria of winning a series over a No. 1-ranked team for the first time since 2016.
“I think anybody that watched us in the fall (practice) knows we’re capable,” Neal said. “The talent on his team is unreal. And I feel like the pieces are coming together. This is what we’re capable of. That’s the best team in the country on paper, and they’re really good. We displayed good performances.”
After playing its final non-conference game of the season vs. Northwestern State on Tuesday night at home, LSU’s final two regular-season series are at Alabama starting Friday and home vs. Ole Miss on May 16-18. The Tigers need to win both series to keep their NCAA Tournament hopes alive.
“We’re in the fight, and that’s all we can do right now,” Johnson said. “We have work to do. I’m really excited about the next two weeks. We’ve improved and we’ve grown up some. We’re gonna keep fighting until they tell us we can’t play anymore.”
Contact Ron at ronhigginsmedia@gmail.com