Texas A&M baseball vs LSU: Aggies await selection show fate after SEC Tournament loss
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HOOVER, Ala. — A season that started as a consensus preseason No. 1 for Texas A&M baseball now looks to be ending without an appearance in the postseason.
The 14th-seeded Aggies (28-25, 11-19) came into the week knowing a conference title was the only way to ensure a spot in the NCAA Tournament. However, on Friday, A&M lost to the three-seeded LSU Tigers 4-3 in the quarterfinal round of the SEC Tournament at the Hoover Met.
LSU's starting pitcher, Kade Anderson, was stellar, striking out 12 Aggies on the night. He gave up four runs on 84 pitches, allowing four hits and one walk in six innings.
"We had situations throughout the year where — whether it be injuries or self-inflicted wounds, one thing that never stopped was our care and our belief," head coach Michael Earley told reporters following the loss. "Those guys believe in each other, and I'm really proud of them for that. This year is not how we drew it up, but they never stopped playing."
A&M's fate now lies in the hands of the NCAA selection committee, which will announce the field of 64 on Monday. But the belief is that the Aggies' struggles this season (starting SEC play 1-8 and losing six of 10 series in conference) will be the undoing of a team that finished one game away from a national championship last season.
With so much on the line, the Aggies received a boost pregame when it was announced their all-time home run leader, Jace LaViolette, would be in the lineup less than 24 hours after having surgery on a broken left hand. LaViolette finished the night 1-for-3 with two RBIs and battled through obvious discomfort with each swing.
"For (LaViolette) to do what he did today, I mean, that's one of the most, maybe the most incredible thing I've ever seen on a baseball field, and it just shows a lot about how much that guy cares about his team," Earley said.
The Aggies' usual Sunday starter, Myles Patton, got the ball Friday. After giving up two runs in the first inning, he settled in. Patton finished his night throwing 4⅔ innings, allowing four runs and four hits, striking out three and walking one on 77 pitches. He exited with A&M trailing 4-2.
Patton was replaced by reliever Clayton Freshcorn, who pitched 3⅓ scoreless innings. He finished the night allowing no hits or walks, and striking out five on 45 pitches.
"I just wanted to give everything I could for the guys that I knew wouldn't be putting on this uniform anymore," Freshcorn said. "There's no question that I think that all of us left everything we could."
A&M finished the night with six hits, while LSU tallied four.
The difference maker was the Tigers' ability to strike early, putting two on the board in the first inning with designated hitter Ethan Frey's double that drove in the first run, followed by catcher Luis Hernandez's ground out that advanced the second runner of the inning across the plate.
From there, Frey added a two-run home run to put the Tigers out of reach. A&M stranded four runners, including in the seventh, as an interference by second baseman Ben Royo going to first base erased a runner crossing the plate.
The belief was that A&M's only path to the NCAA Tournament was to win the conference tournament and earn an automatic qualifier bid. Back-to-back wins against teams with RPIs better than 30 — Auburn came as the top-ranked team in RPI — certainly strengthened its résumé, but Friday's loss may have put an end to A&M's hope for a spot in the field.
"It's hard, man. You work so hard and prepare for a season like we did, and sometimes baseball's a funny game," LaViolette said. "It's hard, it's got its ups and downs, but at the end of the day, I'll be able to call these guys brothers for the rest of my life, and I'm just glad for coach Mike Earley, and I couldn't have asked to play for anyone else."
Reach Texas A&M beat reporter Tony Catalina via email at Anthony.Catalina@Hearst.com. Follow the American-Statesman on Facebook and X for more. Your subscription makes work like this possible. Get access to all of our best content with this tremendous offer.
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas A&M vs LSU: Aggies drop SEC Tournament quarterfinal to Tigers
