Familiar Issues Plague Tigers in Loss to Aggies
David Billiot Jr • April 18, 2026
Texas A&M - 10, LSU - 4
Friday Night Recap
It was groundhog’s day again at Alex Box on Friday night, as LSU lost their 4th straight SEC game in the series opener to Texas A&M. Their night consisted of a lot of the same issues that have plagued them throughout this dreadful season. Casan Evans was off to a fantastic start through 4 innings, but the wheels eventually fell off and the Tigers were doing what they’ve had to do for most of their 16 SEC games so far. Play from behind. They fell behind 1-0, but were able to answer and tie the game. Unfortunately, Evans left the game with the team down 6-2 and the game was essentially over at that point. One of the biggest talking points of this team’s pitching this year as been being one out away. Often, it’s just one pitch away from getting out of an inning without sustaining damage. Time and time again, they’ve been unable to get off of the field and it continued in game 1.
Speaking of old issues continuing on Friday night, the inability to get a big 2-out hit that has plagued this lineup for most of the season, was again on full display. They’ve constantly let pitchers off of the hook and that’s what happened multiple times tonight. They left a runner on 3rd base in 3 of the first 5 innings, which simultaneously led to them falling behind as they often have. Going 1-8 with runners in scoring position is not going to win you many ball games, much less against an offensive team like Texas A&M. Despite two good performances in the middle of the lineup, it was the top of the order that let the Tigers down. Spots #1-#3 combined to go 3-15. Many of the at bats were uncompetitive, but that’s nothing new for this offense.
Pitching
Casan Evans showed up ready to roll on Friday evening. He struck out Gavin Grahovac on 3 pitches to start the game, on his way to striking out the side, despite a 2-out single up the middle. It was a quick 1-2-3 in the 2nd, including another strikeout and nice slow-roller play by John Pearson at 3rd base. Trouble began in the 3rd, as Evans walked 8-hole hitter Bear Harrison to lead off the inning, followed by a bloop single that put runners on 1st and 3rd with no outs. He followed up his 3-pitch strikeout of Grahovac with another 3-pitch strikeout for a big first out of the inning. Caden Sorrell then chopped a ground ball to Mason Braun at 1st base, but it took too long to get to the freshman, allowing the runner at 3rd to score as Braun stepped on the base for the second out. Another ground out to Pearson ended the inning, but only allowing a run after the situation Evans found himself in was a slight win. He bounced back in the 4th, striking out another two to bring his total to 7, pitching around a 2-out walk. He issued another leadoff walk to Harrison in the 5th, who’s .265 batting average was the lowest in the Aggies starting lineup. A strikeout and a flyout put him in position to nullify it, but Texas A&M rattled off three straight singles and just like that, LSU was down 4-1. A groundout would finally end a 30-pitch inning for the Tiger ace. Despite the gruel of a 5th inning, Evans returned for the 6th. He gave up a leadoff single on his 101st pitch of the night, but Jay Johnson chose to stick with him and it ended up being for too long. Freshman Jorian Wilson blasted a 2-run homerun so far out of the stadium that Derek Curiel barely moved. Despite the good first 4 innings, the wheels fell off for Evans and that would be all for him.
- Final line: 5.0 IP / 7 hits / 6 runs / 8 Ks / 3 BBs / 103 pitches (68 strikes, 66%)
After starting the past two Sundays, it was Grant Fontenot as first out of the bullpen for the Tigers. He got off to a fantastic start, striking out the first two hitters that he faced. Grahovac then stepped to the plate having a pretty rough night, but hit another Aggie bomb to right-center for make it 7-2. After a walk, Fontenot would record a flyout to end the second consecutive 3-run inning for Texas A&M. He would not return after that.
- Final line: 1.0 IP / 1 hits / 1 runs / 2 Ks / 1 BB / 13 pitches (8 strikes, 62%)
Danny Lachenmayer took over for the 7th looking to bounce back from some recent struggles. He had hit his only batter-faced in his previous 3 outings going back to game 3 at Tennessee. Tonight, he was very good. Aside from a 1-out single, the lefty struck out the side in his only inning of work.
- Final line: 1.0 IP / 1 hit / 0 runs / 3 Ks / 0 BB / 18 pitches (13 strikes, 72%)
Connor Benge took over for the 8th to start with a clean inning, something he typically doesn’t see. He’s normally put in to put out fires and he’s been pretty good the past few weeks. He was great tonight, striking out the first two batters faced and then getting Grahovac down to a 1-2 count. Benge threw a very good slider that had him fooled, but the Aggie 1st baseman was able to throw his barrel at the ball to make soft contact and find open grass. Jay pulled him with a lefty coming up to bat, but it was another good performance for the right-handed flamethrower.
- Final line: 0.2 IP / 1 hit / 1 run / 2 Ks / 0 BBs / 14 pitches (10 strikes, 71%)
With the left-handed hitting Sorrell coming up, Jay went to Ethan Plog for the matchup. After starting him 1-2, Plog threw 3 straight balls to allow the walk and that was it for him.
- Final line: 0.0 IP / 0 hits / 0 runs / 0 Ks / 1 BB / 6 pitches (2 strikes, 33%)
With runners on 1st and 2nd and 2 outs, Jay went to Mavrick Rizy. On the second pitch, A&M 2nd baseman Chris Hacopian took a fastball to his face in what was a very scary moment. He had to leave the game with trainers. That loaded the bases and the very next pitch went to the backstop, bringing home the 8th Aggie run of the night. Rizy would eventually walk that hitter, before finally recording the final out with a groundout to Steven Milam. Rizy would not return after that.
- Final line: 0.1 IP / 0 hits / 0 runs / 0 Ks / 1 BBs / 1 HBP / 14 pitches (6 strikes, 43%)
It was Reagan Ricken on the mound for the 9th after LSU had scored 2 runs in the 8th to make it a 8-4 game. Just 4 pitches in to the inning, the Aggies were back up by 6 runs after a double and Wilson’s second homerun of the game. Ricken then walked the next hitter on 4 pitches and Jay was out of the dugout to pull him from the game before the batter even got to 1st base.
- Final line: 0.0 IP / 2 hits / 2 runs / 0 Ks / 1 BB / 9 pitches (4 strikes, 44%)
Jaden Noot has been seldom used this year, but he was called upon in the 9th. He came in and did his job, recording back to back groundouts and a pop out with an intentional walk in-between.
- Final line: 1.0 IP / 0 hits / 0 runs / 0 Ks / 1 int walk / 10 pitches (8 strikes, 80%)
Hitting
Cade Arrambide has been on fire going back to that 4 homerun game at Tennessee and he turned in another great night tonight. At DH, he went 3-4 with an RBI and a run scored. The RBI was a 2-out hit, which many of you know that Jay refers to as a “golden”, because that’s how valuable they are. Two of his singles were to the opposite field, which is great to see. So much of this lineup is pull-heavy this year, which is something Jay talked about in his post game press conference.
Steven Milam delivered the only other multi-hit game for the Tigers. Both of his hits were extra base hits, including a solo homerun that tied the game at 1-1 in the 4th inning. He finished 2-4 with a double, as well.
Derek Curiel, Chris Stanfield, Jake Brown, Omar Serna, and John Pearson each recorded a single hit. Pearson drew the only walk of the night for the Tiger lineup, while also providing one of the other two RBIs, along with Serna.
Up Next
LSU and Texas A&M will return tomorrow for game 2 with an adjusted first pitch. Originally scheduled for 7 pm, it has been moved up to 4:30 pm central with the threat of rain looming tomorrow night. The loss now drops the Tigers to 6-10 in conference play, while the Aggies improved to 10-5. William Schmidt will take the mound with his 4-3 record, holding a 3.22 ERA through 44.2 innings pitched. He’s struck out 63 while walking 18 batters. Texas A&M will counter with sophomore Aiden Sims, who Jay referred to as their best pitcher on the post-game radio show. Sims holds a record of 6-0 with an ERA of 3.56 through 48.0 innings pitched, while striking out 51 and walking 15. The Tigers are starting to enter must-win territory with their resume status and while losing either of the next two games doesn’t end their season, it’s going to get exponentially harder as they continue to dig themselves a deeper hole.
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Welcome back to the second edition of the statistical preview for LSU’s weekend opponent. There are two major changes this week. First, the rankings you see for each team are bases on SEC games ONLY. Last week was conference ranks that included all games played, but now that we’re halfway through the schedule, there is enough of a sample size that SEC games only can tell the full story. Second change is the inclusion of WHIP for the starting pitchers. For those that don’t know, WHIP stands for “walks + hits per inning pitched”. Basically, it’s how many guys a pitcher allows on base by his own doing, so it excludes runners that reach on errors. With that being said, please let me know if there is anything you’d like me to change or add going forward. My X account is listed below and my DMs are open, so feel free to reach out! Team Hitting Runs scored: 1st – 9.9 per game (LSU: 3rd – 7.1 per game) Batting average: 1st - .288 (LSU: 7th – .260) Doubles: 1st – 31 (LSU: 8th – 22) Homeruns: 2nd – 29 (LSU: T-6th – 24) On base %: 1st – .451 (LSU: T-5th – .409) Strikeouts: 15th – 121 (LSU: 12th – 137) Walks: 1st – 108 (LSU: 4th – 76) Hits: 1st – 11.2 per game (LSU: 6th – 8.7 per game) Stolen bases: 7th – 16 (LSU: 12th – 10) Team Pitching ERA: 15th – 6.94 (LSU: 11th – 5.94) Strikeouts: 15th – 123 (LSU: 2nd – 169) Walks: 12th – 55 (LSU: 3rd – 86) HRs allowed: 16th – 37 (LSU: 8th – 19) Hits allowed: 16th – 10.4 per game (LSU: 9th – 8.0 per game) Runs allowed: 14th – 6.8 per game (LSU: 13th – 6.7 per game) BA against: 16th – .300 (LSU: 7th – .242) Fielding: 4th – .979 (LSU: 16th – .963) Pitching Matchups Game 1 (Friday – 6:00 pm) Texas A&M – RS Jr LHP Shane Sdao: 3-2 record (9 starts) / 5.77 ERA / 48.1 IP / 1.53 WHIP / 58 Ks / 12 BBs LSU – Soph RHP Casan Evans: 2-1 record (9 starts) / 4.91 ERA / 47.2 IP / 1.36 WHIP / 68 Ks / 23 BBs Game 2 (Saturday – 7:00 pm) Texas A&M – Soph RHP Aiden Sims: 6-0 record (9 starts) / 3.56 ERA / 48.0 IP / 1.19 WHIP / 51 Ks / 15 BBs LSU – Soph RHP William Schmidt: 4-3 record (9 starts) / 3.22 ERA / 44.2 IP / 1.30 WHIP / 63 Ks / 18 BBs Game 3 (Sunday – 1:00 pm) Texas A&M – TBA LSU – TBA Top Hitters #13 Caden Sorrell – .368 BA / .456 OB% / 57 RBI / 45 R / 17 HR / 12 doubles / 19 BB / 38 K #9 Gavin Grahovac – .360 BA / .458 OB% / 49 RBI / 49 R / 10 HR / 11 doubles / 17 BB / 24 K #2 Nico Partida – .351 BA / .456 OB% / 37 RBI / 39 R / 11 HR / 7 doubles / 24 BB / 26 K #3 Jake Duer – .344 BA / .468 OB% / 36 RBI / 29 R / 4 HR / 10 doubles / 30 BB / 21 K #1 Terrence Kiel II – .290 BA / .442 OB% / 12 RBI / 32 R / 0 HR / 4 doubles / 20 BB / 13 K Follow me on X for much more @DCBilliotJr
Tuesday Night Recap Entering Tuesday on a 4-game losing streak, LSU was in desperate need of a win. That was apparent when Jay Johnson sent bullpen ace Zac Cowan to the mound to start the game. The Tigers have found themselves down early in plenty of midweek games this year, the emphasis was to try and prevent needing a comeback effort. Although it wasn’t a large deficit, LSU still fell behind after a 2nd inning homerun. Midweek pitching has been suspect for most of the season, but the staff was excellent against Northwestern. They struck out 16 Demon hitters, while only walking 2. Jay’s emphasis on winning the game was further proven by going to Deven Sheerin to close the game out, which he did. While the pitching has struggled in the midweek games, the offense typically has not. Despite only scoring 7 in a loss to Bethune-Cookman a week ago, they had exploded for two double digit wins the previous two games. That was not the case this week, though. Although they recorded 9 hits, the situational offense was suspect, missing more opportunities as we’ve seen throughout the year. All 4 runs that LSU scored crossed home plate on homeruns. They only struck out 4 times, but as a whole, the Tigers were just underwhelming once again. Pitching Zac Cowan did what Jay Johnson was hoping for in the 1st, which was getting the Tigers off to a good start. After a flyout and an infield hit, the senior struck out back to back hitters to prevent the Demons from getting anything going. That changed in the 2nd, as Northwestern got a leadoff bloop single, but it was quickly erased on a double play. Demon right fielder Bryce Johnson lined out to John Pearson, who had all day to throw the runner out at 1st base with him attempting a steal. With 2 outs and a 3-2 count, Austrailian catcher Mason Wray blasted his first homerun of the season to Left Field Landing. Cowan would record a groundout back to himself to end the inning and with 34 pitches, he would not return for the 3rd inning. Final line: 2.0 IP / 3 hits / 1 run / 2 Ks / 0 BBs / 34 pitches (22 strikes, 65%) Grant Fontenot was looking to bounce back from a rough start on Sunday, in which he only recorded an out in the 1st inning. His 3rd inning on Tuesday night was far better, though. He went 3-up, 3-down while striking out two. Returning for the 4th, he went 1-2-3 again, including a very nice slow-roller play by Brayden Simpson, who was lined up at shortstop in the shift. Another groundout and his third strikeout of the night got LSU right back in to the dugout with the Tigers looking for their first lead. After two fantastic innings, that would be the end for Fontenot. Final line: 2.0 IP / 0 hits / 0 runs / 3 Ks / 0 BBs / 32 pitches (23 strikes, 72%) Reagan Ricken took the mound to start the 5th and gave up a first pitch single through the left side. He then threw the ball away on a pickoff attempt, which has happened far too often for Tiger pitching this season. A catcher’s interference would put runners on 1st and 2nd with no outs, setting up a sacrifice bunt. The Demons retook the lead on a groundout to Steven Milam, who had to make the play to 1st base. Ricken’s night would be over with 2 outs and a runner at 3rd. Final line: 0.2 IP / 1 hit / 1 run / 0 Ks / 0 BBs / 14 strikes (10 strikes, 71%) Connor Benge entered to try and record the final out and with a lineout to Chris Stanfield, he did just that. He returned for the 6th and started off with a strikeout. A 1-out double on a groundball that took an awful hop on Mason Braun at 1st base would get a runner in to scoring position. Benge fought back with a strikeout, but that would be all. He has quietly put together some solid outings the past few weeks. Final line: 1.0 IP / 1 hit / 0 runs / 2 Ks / 0 BBs / 12 pitches (9 strikes, 75%) With 2 outs in the 6th and a runner on 2nd, Jay turned to Cooper Williams. He came through with a strikeout and that was it for his night. Final line: 0.1 IP / 0 hits / 0 runs / 1 K / 0 BBs / 5 pitches (4 strikes, 80%) Marcos Paz entered to start the 7th and was fantastic. He struck out the side on three full-counts. His 96 mph is some of the most effortless velocity that I’ve ever watched in person. He’s going to be a stud in this program. His night would end after the one flawless inning. Final line: 1.0 IP / 0 hits / 0 runs / 3 Ks / 0 BBs / 19 pitches (11 strikes, 58%) Zion Theophilus took over for the 8th and issued the first walk of the game for LSU pitching. He threw one pitch to the second batter, a foul ball, then was removed. There wasn’t a trainer out on the field, so it appeared as if Jay just didn’t like what he saw: Final line: 0.0 IP / 0 hits / 0 runs / 0 Ks / 1 BB / 5 pitches (1 strike, 20%) Santiago took over for Theophilus and struck out his first hitter. A wild pitch and an error on John Pearson put runners on the corners with 1 out, then a walk loaded the bases. Jay, visibly frustrated, scurried out of the dugout to make another pitching change. Final line: 0.1 IP / 0 hits / 0 runs / 1 K / 1 BB / 12 pitches (6 strikes, 50%) Badly needing to win a game, Jay had to turn to Deven Sheerin with the bases loaded and only 1 out. As he always does, he came through with a massive strikeout and then a pop out in foul territory to Pearson to end Northwestern’s biggest threat since the 5th. He returned for the 9th and blew right through the Demon lineup, striking out the side to close out the 4-2 win. Final line: 1.2 IP / 0 hits / 0 runs / 4 Ks / 0 BBs / 25 pitches (16 strikes, 64%) Hitting Jake Brown had the biggest swing of the night. While down 2-1 in the 5th, a baserunning error threatened to waste a giant opportunity. But the star outfielder stepped up and blasted a 3-run homerun to take the lead. That was his 16th homerun of the season, which doubles his total from 2025. I asked Brown after the game about the power surge and if that was a conscious effort in the offseason, to which he confirmed that it was to try and fill the power void of Jared Jones and Ethan Frey having moved on to the MLB. Speaking of homeruns, Brayden Simpson transferred to LSU from High Point after hitting 22 homeruns a year ago. Not that anyone realistically expected him to come close to that total, it has been slightly surprising that he had yet to leave the yard this year. That all changed on Tuesday night when he hit a 425 foot bomb off of the batter’s eye in center field to tie the game. After his big swing that extended LSU’s 7-run inning on Sunday, Simpson has strung together a few games of good at bats. Unfortunately, it was him who had the big baserunning blunder prior to Brown’s homerun. It was a play that just cant happen, especially from a senior. His homerun was his last at bat of the night, because he was pulled from the game following the mistake. He should have opportunities to bounce back this weekend, as Seth Dardar continues to recover from his ankle injury. Steven Milam, Derek Curiel, and John Pearson each had 2 hits on Tuesday night. One of Milam’s hits was a double, the only one of the night for the Tiger offense. Up Next Having now improved their record to 23-15, LSU will welcome in Texas A&M to Baton Rouge to kick off the second half of SEC play. The Aggies come in with a 10-4 record in conference play, tied for 2nd in the league. They are coming off of a rare 2 game sweep of Texas last weekend with game 3 on Sunday eventually getting cancelled due to rain all day on Sundaqy. With a 6-9 record following being swept in Oxford last weekend, LSU desperately needs a series win this weekend. First pitch for game 1 will be Friday at 6 pm central. Follow me on X for much more @DCBilliotJr