A sweep in Austin is less than ideal but there is no rest in SEC baseball
Suffering a series sweep on the road against the Texas Longhorns and Jim Schlossnagle hurts the Aggies in a major way. Even if the losses came against the #1 team in the nation and each loss was only by a single run. Given the predicament Texas A&M is in regarding its postseason hopes, the Aggies have no time to waste in bouncing back.
Unfortunately for Michael Earley’s squad, next up is a meeting with the #2 team in the country, the LSU Tigers. Such is the life for teams in the best conference in all of college baseball.
Let’s dive into the series and talk about what Texas A&M needs to do to bounce back.
Photo by David Buono/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
Against the Horns, Texas A&M’s pitching gave the Aggies a fighting chance. The staff surrendered just 11 runs on the weekend. I would argue that this LSU lineup is more dangerous than Texas, but if Texas A&M’s starters and delivers continue to build off of the performances they’ve had, the Aggies have a chance to pull off another series upset at home. Additionally, it feels like a lot of the fielding behind the pitchers has been cleaned up in spite of a bit of shakiness there.
Jared Jones is a monster at the plate for the Tigers, hitting .357 with 15 home runs. Texas A&M’s staff will need to be at their best to shut down Jones and the rest of the Tigers.
Photo by David Buono/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
At the plate, Texas A&M will have to do much better than the eight runs across three games that they had facing Texas. While the Horns do have the better pitching staff, LSU’s staff is still very talented. The expected Friday starter, Kade Anderson, has 102 strikeouts in the season, while the expected Saturday starter, Anthony Eyanson, has 91, putting both in the top five of the SEC.
Caden Sorrell continues to be a force since returning from injury, but another player who has stepped up at the plate recently is Rice transfer Ben Royo. They’ll have their work cut out for them against LSU, but I’d look to Sorrell or Royo to provide a spark for the bats this weekend.
Probable Starters
- Friday: LHP Ryan Prager (2-3, 4.04 ERA, 62.1 IP, 54 K, 15 BB) vs. LHP Kade Anderson (6-1, 3.76 ERA, 64.2 IP, 102 K, 16 BB)
- Saturday: LHP Justin Lamkin (3-5, 3.92 ERA, 62.0 IP, 69 K, 14 BB) vs. RHP Anthony Eyanson (6-2, 3.49 ERA, 59.1 IP, 91 K, 25 BB)
- Sunday: LHP Myles Patton (3-3, 4.84 ERA, 57.2 IP, 64 K, 12 BB) vs. TBA
How to Watch
- 6:00 p.m. Friday on SECN+
- 2:00 p.m. Saturday on SECN+
- 1:00 p.m. Sunday on SECN+
#BTHOlsu