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. Follow me on X for much more @DCBilliotJr