No. 1 Texas A&M denies LSU weekend win – Crescent City Sports

BATON ROUGE, La. – Top-ranked Texas A&M overcame a 3-0 deficit with a nine-run fifth inning on Sunday as the Aggies posted a 14-4 win over LSU at Alex Box Stadium, Skip Bertman Field.

Texas A&M improved to 40-8 overall, 16-8 in the SEC, while LSU fell to 31-18 overall and 9-15 in conference play.

The Tigers return to action on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. CT when they host Northwestern State at Alex Box Stadium, Skip Bertman Field. The game will be broadcast on LSU Sports Radio Network partners and streamed on SEC Network+.

Despite Sunday's loss, LSU has won three straight SEC series and nine of its last 12 games overall.

“We knew we were playing a tough opponent,” LSU coach Jay Johnson said, “and I think we pitched as well as we could through the first 22 innings of the series.” Texas A&M had it in the fifth inning a small breakthrough and was able to blow up the gates. We did a good job of taking an early lead and keeping them at bay for a while, but kudos to them for hanging on in the end.

“We are still fighting for a postseason bid and have really improved over the last month. We gave ourselves a chance. Over the last few weeks, we have put ourselves in the best possible position to play postseason baseball. We just have to keep fighting.”

Texas A&M reliever Chris Cortez (7-2) earned the win Sunday, limiting LSU to one hit in 4.1 scoreless innings with two walks and six strikeouts.

LSU reliever Samuel Dutton (0-1) was blamed for the loss as he allowed four runs on four hits with no walks and two strikeouts in 2.1 innings.

Catcher Brady Neal's two-run home run – his eighth hit of the season – gave the Tigers a 2-0 lead in the second inning, and LSU increased the lead in the third inning on an RBI single from left fielder Josh Pearson 3:0 out.

However, the Aggies sent 13 batters to the plate early in the fifth and scored nine runs. A three-run home run from third baseman Gavin Grahovac and a two-run dinner from catcher Jackson Appel marked the upset for Texas A&M.

LSU received strong relief from right-hander Aiden Moffett, who recorded the final two outs of the fifth inning and totaled 3.1 frames, allowing no runs on three hits with one walk and six strikeouts.

The Aggies added five runs in the ninth inning, including a grand slam by first baseman Kaeden Kent.