Aggies Claim Seesaw SEC Opener at No. 8 LSU

Friday, March 18

Baton Rouge, La.

6:30 PM

Texas A&M

11-6, 1-0

LSU

14-4, 0-1

Texas A&M

LSU

Mar 18, 2022 | Baseball

Box Score Box Score Postgame Interviews

By: Thomas Dick, Texas A&M Athletics Communications

BATON ROUGE, Louisiana – Texas A&M clawed out two runs in the top of the ninth inning and Chris Cortez retired the side in order in the home half of the frame to send the Aggies to a 6-4 win over the No. 8 LSU Tigers in the SEC opener Friday evening at Alex Box Stadium.

Tied 4-4 in the ninth, Kole Kaler started a one-out rally with a double to leftfield and scored the go-ahead run when Austin Bost dropped a single over the second baseman into shallow right-center. Dylan Rock would tack on an insurance run as he legged out a bases-loaded single to third base to score pinch-runner Ty Hodge.

LSU drew first blood in the bottom of the first, but back-to-back home runs by Rock and Ryan Targac in the top of the second put the Aggies ahead, 2-1. The Tigers reclaimed the lead, 3-2, with solo home runs in the fourth and fifth innings. Texas A&M (11-6, 1-0 SEC) staked claim to a 4-3 advantage with an RBI single by Kaler and a line drive by Bost. LSU tied it in the eighth, setting up the ninth-inning drama.

Nathan Dettmer worked 4.2 innings in the start, yielding three runs on five hits while striking out three. Jacob Palish was solid in relief, yielding one run on two hits while striking out three in 2.1 innings. Chris Cortez improved to 3-1 on the season, retiring all five batters he faced, including two strikeouts.

Texas A&M batted .400 (6-for-15) with runners on base, while Aggie pitchers held LSU hitters to .071 (1-for-14) with Tigers on the savannah.

TOP AGGIE PERFORMERS
Dylan Rock – 2-for-5, 1 HR, 1 R, 2 RBI
Kole Kaler – 2-for-4, 1 2B, 1 BB, 2 R, 1 RBI
Jacob Palisch – 2.1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 3 K
Chris Cortez – 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K – W, 3-1

GAME SUMMARY
B1 | With one out, Dylan Crews singled up the middle, moved to second on a groundout by Jacob Berry and scored on a single to rightfield by Cade Doughty. LSU 1, A&M 0

T2 | With one out, Dylan Rock bludgeoned an 0-1 offering over the fence in rightfield and Ryan Targac followed by by hammering a 2-2 pitch to the same place for back-to-back jacks. A&M 2, LSU 1.

B4 | With two outs, LSU's Jordan Thompson clubbed a solo home run to rightfield. A&M 2, LSU 2.

B5 | With one out, Tyler McManus deposited a first-pitch offering over the rightfield fence for a solo job. LSU 3, A&M 2

T7 | Targac was hit by a pitch to start the inning and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Logan Britt. Targac motored around third and home when Kaler legged out a single to short. A throwing error on the throw home allowed Kaler to move to second, he stole third base and scored on a line drive to rightfield by Bost. A&M 4, LSU 3

B8 | Crews threaded a single through the right side of the infield as the last batter Jacob Palisch faced. Reliever Will Johnston issued a walk to Berry and hit Cade Doughty with a pitch to load the bases. Brayden Jobert plated Crews with the tying run on a grounder to short. A&M 4, LSU 4

T9 | With one out, Kole Kaler dropped a hit in front of a diving leftfielder for a double and Bost fouled off a pair of two-strike pitches before lofting a ball over the second baseman for an RBI single Ty Hodge pinch-ran for Bost and with two outs he moved to second base on a wild pitch. Troy Claunch and Brett Minnich needed just nine pitches to draw two walks and fill the bags with Ags. Rock hustled out a ground ball to third for an RBI single. A&M 6, LSU 4

UP NEXT
The Aggies and Tigers return to action Sunday at Alex Box Stadium for a 6:02 p.m. contest.

POSTGAME QUOTES
For road games, stream of postgame interviews are available on the Texas A&M Twitter account @AggieBaseball.

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