COLLEGE STATION, Texas — The Texas A&M Aggies fell in the season finale to the LSU Tigers, 8-2, Saturday afternoon on Olsen Field at Blue Bell Park.
The Tigers claimed the early lead after taking advantage of some fielding mishap and three longballs. LSU put up a two-run first, four-run third, one-run fourth, and a one-run ninth. The Aggies struck back with one run in the home half of the fourth with a Hunter Coleman two-out RBI single. The Maroon & White took another jab at the lead in the sixth with consecutive doubles by Will Frizzell and Austin Bost but were unable to get anything else going.
At the plate, six Aggies recorded a hit on the day, four of which were extra baggers. Bryce Blaum, Bost, Frizzell and Logan Sartori all smacked doubles. Hunter Coleman recorded one hit and one RBI.
On the rubber, starter Chris Weber (1-3) was saddled with the loss. He yielded six runs, four earned, on six hits and one walks while fanning a pair through 3.0 frames. Nathan Dettmer was next in line and tossed 2.0 innings, allowing one run on four hits while striking out two. Jonathan Childress got the call in the sixth and worked through a stellar 3.0 scoreless innings, scattering two hits and one walk while sitting down five Tigers via strikeout. Mason Ornelas closed out the remaining frame, yielding one run.
The Maroon & White closed out the season with a 29-27 overall record and a 9-21 conference record, while the Tigers finished 34-21 on the year and 13-17 in SEC play.
The Aggies had their string of 13 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances snapped, the third-longest active string in the nation heading into 2021. Prior to the arrival of Rob Childress as the head coach, Texas A&M had never appeared in more than four consecutive NCAA Tournaments.
The season was a rare misstep for a Texas A&M squad that ranked fifth among all Division I schools with 234 wins between 2015-20.
Next up for many of the Aggies is the MLB Draft in June. The Maroon & White have excelled in the draft in recent years. The Aggies boast 13 pitchers drafted in the first five rounds of the MLB Draft from 2015-20, nearly twice as many as the closest school in Texas (TCU – 7). Texas A&M can also brag about having the longest streak in the nation for having two or more players selected in the MLB Draft (37) and years having three or more players picked in the draft (20).
Last season, the Aggies were the only college to have three players selected in the first 50 picks of the draft. As a result, Texas A&M entered 2021 as the only NCAA Power Five conference school to lose both a Friday (Asa Lacy) and Saturday (Christian Roa) starting pitcher as well as the top hitter in the lineup (Zach DeLoach) from 2020.
GAME SUMMARY
T1 | Tre’ Morgan led off with a lined single to centerfield and advanced to second after Dylan Crews reached on a fielding mishap. With two outs, Morgan scored with the help of a throwing error on a groundball by Zach Arnold. The Tigers added one more run to the board on a throwing error back to the pitcher. LSU 2, A&M 0
T3| Gavin Dugas sent a leadoff solo shot over the left-centerfield wall. Cade Doughty singled through the left side of infield and scored on a Zach Arnold two-run home run. Drew Bianco added to the damage, following up with another solo home run. LSU 6, A&M 0.
T4| Morgan dribbled a leadoff, infield single down the first base line. Crews swapped places with Morgan after grounding into a fielder’s choice to shortstop. Crews advanced to second on a Dugas hit-by-pitch and scored on a lined single to leftfield by Doughty. LSU 7, A&M 0.
B4| Logan Sartori laced a leadoff double into the left-centerfield gap. With two outs, Hunter Coleman put up the Aggies first run with a single through the left side of the infield. LSU 7, A&M 1.
B6| With two outs, Will Frizzell roped a double off the top of the left-centerfield wall. Austin Bost replaced Frizzell at second with a lined RBI double into the left-centerfield gap. LSU 7, A&M 2.
T9| Jordan Thompson lined a leadoff single into the right-centerfield gap. Thompson moved to second on a sacrifice bunt and scored on a double down the rightfield line by Morgan. LSU 8, A&M 2.
UP NEXT
The Aggies 2022 campaign is set to start in mid-February.
TEXAS A&M QUOTES
Head Coach Rob Childress
On the conversation with the team following today’s game…
“That I was proud of them. Certainly, there is nobody more disappointed than the guys in that circle in the dugout because they have more invested more than anyone else. If you had told me that we would have been at 29-27 before the season started, I would have told you ‘you’re crazy’. There’s too much experience and too much talent, but sometimes such is the game of baseball, and such is life. At some point, maybe they’ll realize it - tomorrow, next week, next month - but they become better for it: better young men, better husbands, better fathers and better baseball players. We’ve got some guys that are going to get an opportunity to move on professionally, guys who will be back and better for it. They certainly stayed together and fought the fight each and every day, and for that, I am very proud of our team.”
Senior DH Hunter Coleman
On the team’s performance today…
“I think we had a lot to play for today. We made a few mistakes early, but that’s baseball. I am proud of the way we bounced back with our four extra-base hits. We had a lot of emotions since this will be the last time you will get to see a bunch of these guys out there.”
