LSU baseball rallies, takes series opener over No. 1 Texas A&M
BATON ROUGE — It's just what he does.
LSU baseball's Josh Pearson stepped up the plate in the bottom of the sixth with bases loaded and his team trailing No. 1 Texas A&M by a run. With the count full, Pearson placed an outside pitch just inside the third-base line and past A&M's Gavin Grahovac and two runners scored to push the Tigers ahead.
For the second straight weekend in an SEC series, the crafty junior lefty got a clutch hit late in the game that either gave LSU the lead, like Friday night, or won the game, like his walkoff against Auburn.
LSU tacked on two more runs in the sixth to stretch its lead en route to winning Game 1 of a pivotal series 6-4 at Alex Box Stadium.
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The Tigers (30-17, 8-14 SEC) and Aggies (39-7, 15-7 SEC) play again at 6 p.m. Saturday.
LSU baseball comes through with runners in scoring position
Despite the pop in its lineup, LSU hasn't been the most consistent offense with runners in scoring position.
But when it mattered, the Tigers came through against Texas A&M on Friday night, going 4-for-7 when runners reached second or third base.
Star Tommy White got it going for LSU in the third when his choppy grounder to third led to two runs coming home, which tied the game 2-2. Pearson, Hayden Travinski and freshman Steven Milam all had hits with runners in scoring position in the sixth.
Texas A&M gets to LSU starter Gage Jump
LSU starting pitcher Gage Jump's 14 scoreless inning streak didn't run deep into the matchup with No. 1 Texas A&M on Friday night inside Alex Box Stadium.
Five pitches in, on a 1-1 count, Aggies centerfielder Jace LaViolette parked an inside fastball beyond the right field wall to give his team the early lead and snap Jump's streak.
A&M's potent lineup is known for its power and the Aggies displayed it, powering three home runs off Jump in the first four frames, including a pair from Ali Camarillo. Jump was chased in the fifth, going 5⅓ innings, giving up six hits, three earned runs and had three hit-by-pitches.
Errors pile up for Texas A&M, LSU capitalizes
Through 45 games this season, A&M had committed just 30 errors, including a game against UTSA when it committed four but still won.
The Aggies weren't as steady on defense in Game 1, piling up three errors and LSU took advantage, scoring two runs off of them, which made up the difference on the scoreboard.
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Cory Diaz covers the LSU Tigers for The Daily Advertiser as part of the USA TODAY Network. Follow his Tigers coverage on Twitter: @ByCoryDiaz. Got questions regarding LSU athletics? Send them to Cory Diaz at bdiaz@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Daily Advertiser: LSU baseball rallies, takes series opener over No. 1 Texas A&M
