Preview: Texas A&M vs LSU – Thu 6:30 (ESPN2) | Fri 7 (SECN Alt) | Sat 1 (ESPN)

#2 Texas A&M Aggies (36-5, 12-5) at #1 LSU Fighting Tigers (35-6, 12-5) at Alex Box Stadium, Skip Bertman Field in Baton Rouge, LA.

It’s finally here! Texas A&M makes their first trip to Alex Box Stadium as a member of the SEC after the Tigers were sent out to Blue Bell Park each of the prior two seasons. This time the Tigers get to recall the Aggies down to Baton Rouge, and it was certainly worth the wait for LSU fans to get a matchup of #1 vs #2. In a series that started back in 1907, the Tigers won just 3 of the first 15 meetings between the two programs. That all turned around in the 1989 Regional in College Station where LSU delivered a huge upset of the #1 ranked Aggies, who amassed a still-standing school record 58 wins prior to being shocked in back to back games. LSU is 10-17-1 against A&M in regular season baseball, but undefeated (6-0) against the Aggs in postseason play, including a 13-8 win in Omaha in 1993. All 3 games this weekend between LSU and A&M will be played on national TV for the 2nd season in a row. This series could determine who ends up as the regular season SEC Champion.

LSUsports.net #1 vs #2 Hype Video







Texas A&M Aggies
Record: 36-5
Conference: 12-5, t1st SEC west
Non-Conf: 24-0
Home: 28-4
Away: 5-1
Neutral: 3-0


Team Overview:
Texas A&M is under Rob Childress for the 10th season and has made 8 straight NCAA regional appearances. The Aggies have had some adjustments to make since joining the SEC after finishing 6th in the SEC West in their first two seasons in the league. Childress is of a similar mindset to Mainieri in that he likes to work younger guys in early in their careers and build on the experience. Their prior SEC struggles have paid off now with a veteran lineup and a deep pitching staff that has them ranked in the top 3 with the most wins in the nation. A&M started the season 24-0, also sweeping the Houston College Classic as LSU did. This is all after losing their ace Tyler Stubblefield to a knee injury in the preseason, followed by losing their next up ace AJ Minter the weekend before conference play started. The Tigers and Aggies respectively rank 1st and 2nd in the SEC in team batting average and 2nd and 1st in team ERA. These two teams show a lot of similarities with the biggest differences being team speed and defensive ability, both of which favor LSU.


Thursday night’s ESPNU game will get to see Jared Poché against Grayson Long. Poché will be going in game 1 for LSU to give Alex Lange an extra day of rest to prevent any reoccurring shoulder soreness. A&M’s Grayson Long has become the staff ace after losing 2 other rotation starters to injury. Long is a 6’5 right hander making his 34th career start for A&M. Despite his big frame, he won’t overpower you with his 90-91 mph fastball but presents a big downward motion and throwing angle. He ranks 4th in the SEC in strikeouts and has already surpassed his strikeout total from last season in 40 fewer innings pitched. He struck out a career high 14 batters last month against Alabama.


Ryan Hendrix will be making just his 2nd start of the season. Hendrix had allowed just 1 earned run in over 21 innings prior to making his first start last weekend against Arkansas. He went a season high 4.1 innings and allowed 8 hits and 3 earned runs. Hendrix is a power righty with a 92-94mph fastball and has a pretty good curve around 80mph. You may see his velocity a tad lower in the starter roll. LSU will counter with freshman sensation Alex Lange in a game that has been added to the national TV roster on the SEC Network’s Alternate Channel.


Saturday’s starter has not officially been announced from Childress after Matt Kent allowed 6 runs and recorded only 6 out against Arkansas last weekend. In each the previous two outings, Kent went 3.1 innings and allowed 3 runs in those contests. Kent is a workman-like pitcher. Throws his fastball from the right side in the mid-80’s and makes his move on big sweeping curves and a change. It’s all about location with Kent, and he does that well, allowing just 15 walks in 134.1 career IP. The other option for A&M is freshman RHP Turner Larkins, who started on Tuesday, but only threw 41 pitches. Larkins is a 89-93 fastball guy, who comes at you with 4 pitches. Austin Bain will start on Saturday for LSU after getting a warm-up on Tuesday night against Tulane in 2 shutout innings and 29 pitches.



Relief Pitching:
Texas A&M’s bullpen has been a real advantage for them this season. Six relievers have logged at least 19 innings and have an ERA under 2. Mark Ecker has recorded 8 saves on the season. He is a 6’2 RHP who throws in the 91-93mph range. Andrew Vinson leads the team with a 0.60 ERA and an 0.67 WHIP. He has struck out a bullpen best 29 batters in 30 innings. Ty Schlottmann’s 24 appearances are the most in the SEC. He is the main left handed stopper for the Aggies and features a typical lefty arsenal.




Texas A&M Offense:
Texas A&M’s offense is very deep and very experienced. The starting 9 guys above have combined to play in 902 games totaling 24 seasons for the Aggies. That veteran presence has paid dividends for them so far this season with their .316 team average ranking 5th in the nation. Blake Allemand, the switch-hitting leadoff man, is the only Aggie to have played in all 41 games. Allemand hits .311 overall and is tied for the team lead in runs scored. Allemand hits .455 against lefties and .287 against right handed pitchers and has accumulated 204 hits over his 4 year career. Nick Banks, a 2014 Freshman All-American, leads the SEC in batting average at .407, landing 13th in the nation. Logan Taylor is the big power threat in the lineup with 10 bombs on the season and also leads the SEC with a .426 average in conference games.

On the bases, A&M has the fewest stolen bases and fewest attempts in the SEC and ranks 247th in the country in SB/game. The top contenders to swipe a base are Nick Banks (7 for 8), J.B. Moss (6 for 6), and Blake Allemand (5 for 5). A&M averages less 1 stolen base attempt per game.




Defense:
Defense is probably the biggest dissimilarity between these two clubs; although the gap is not huge, it may make be the difference in what presumes to be 3 close games. A&M’s .968 fielding% ranks 11th in the SEC. They have committed 23 errors in 17 conference games resulting in 15 unearned runs. By comparison, LSU has only committed 11 errors in their 17 games, best in the league, allowing 3 unearned. Behind the dish, LSU transfer Michael Barash has been very solid for the Aggies. He has thrown out 44% of attempting stealers. No SEC team has allowed fewer stolen bases in conference games than A&M has.