Game #38: No. 10 Texas A&M 5, Louisiana State 2
Records: Texas A&M (31-7, 12-5), Louisiana State (23-18, 6-12)
WP: Gavin Lyons (7-0)
LP: Zac Cowan (1-2)
Box Score

BATON ROUGE, La. — On all three days, the Aggies caught the Tigers by their tail.

Even after LSU skipper Jay Johnson hollered postgame on Friday, Texas A&M never let them go.

It all culminated in a three-game sweep by the nation’s 10th-ranked ballclub, which posted a 5-2 victory inside a sparse and deafeningly quiet Alex Box Stadium on Sunday.

For the first time since 1978, the Aggies have swept LSU, in Baton Rouge or elsewhere, putting Michael Earley in exclusive company with Hall of Fame coach Tom Chandler.

By virtue of winning four straight SEC series and 11 of his last 12 conference games, Earley is making a case to join another exclusive list: SEC Coach of the Year.

Talk of such accolades comes with the territory of accomplishing something for the first time in 48 years.

“That’s cool. Definitely cool for the fan base.I wasn’t alive in 1978. Just an awesome win. That was gritty. … Pitching was awesome. Defense was awesome. We scored situationally when we needed to score. Overall, great weekend. A lot of team wins.”

– Texas A&M head baseball coach Michael Earley

“That’s cool. Definitely cool for the fan base,” the Aggie skipper said. “I wasn’t alive in 1978. Just an awesome win. That was gritty. … Pitching was awesome. Defense was awesome. We scored situationally when we needed to score.

“Overall, great weekend. A lot of team wins.”

A typically hollering and hostile crowd was reduced to a whimpering 10,938 as the Aggies wailed and wailed often early.

Scoring in each of the first four frames, Weston Moss received plenty of run support during his scoreless 4.1-inning start.

Moss did not allow a hit until the fourth and did not let a man into scoring position until the fifth, at which point Gavin Lyons extinguished the threat and one more in the subsequent frame.

“He filled it up,” Earley said of Moss. “It was great. He did an awesome job. Changeup was good. Fastball was good.

“That work he had earlier in the week, maybe with a little rest — you know, silver lining and not playing that game — got a little rest, got some work in. I thought he was awesome.”

Tiger starter Zac Cowan had no such luck as Caden Sorrell beat him and the stiff northwind on the game’s ninth pitch, lining his 18th home run just over the right field wall to open the scoring.

An inning later, Bear Harrison’s sacrifice fly added another. In the third, Chris Hacopian launched a two-run homer to left. Three consecutive fourth-inning singles plated a fifth.

Hacopian accumulated four hits on the weekend. The two that went for extra bases came after he took a 93 mph fastball to the mouth in Friday’s opener.

“I just want to play for these guys and give everything I’ve got, and I’m just so glad how the weekend went,” the Aggie second baseman said. “It’s baseball. You’re going to run through struggles and slumps and stuff, but at the end of the day, you’ve just got to get back to the drawing board, and you’ve got to work.

“You gotta be tough in this game. My sister said tough times don’t last; tough people do. That’s kind of just been my motto for April.”

By the time Deven Sheerin entered for LSU, the Aggies held a seemingly insurmountable 4-0 edge.

All Sheerin did was strike out nine in 4.2 innings of one-run relief to keep the Aggies hitless for the final five frames as the game never went fully over the ledge.

Of course, it didn’t matter as Moss, Lyons and Clayton Freshcorn barely budged as a Cade Arrambide ambush shot and an unearned run trimmed A&M’s lead to 5-2 in the penultimate inning.

“We thought Weston was slowing down just a little out there; at least that’s what it looked like,” Earley said. “When we got to (Lyons), it’s ‘cause we’ve got a ton of confidence in him. Not that we don’t in Moss, but that’s what it looked like in the game, and Gavin’s been getting it done.”

Ethan Mito, Texas A&M Athletics

Weston Moss allowed three hits in 4.1 innings of scoreless baseball.

It seems as if everyone in Maroon & White is getting it done.

Last week’s two-game sweep of Texas was a statement. This weekend’s Tiger taming should tell the nation these Aggies are anything but tame.

Sure, a road trip to Gainesville is on deck. Then come series with Auburn, Ole Miss and Mississippi State.

The job is far from finished, but at least for the moment, the Aggies are 0.5 games behind Georgia for first place in the SEC.

That is worth hollering about. As is this memorable Tiger tale.