Aggies hoping they are back on track after rout
COLLEGE STATION — Texas A&M figured it couldn’t hurt based on its poor start to Southeastern Conference play, so the Aggies cut loose during batting practice and pregame warmups on Friday, with dirty uniforms prior to the first pitch against LSU to prove it.
“There have been a few times where we’ve come out this year when we’ve been really laidback in our pregame stuff,” A&M outfielder Logan Foster said. “That’s when we weren’t ready to go from the first pitch.
“We changed it up. We had guys diving all over the place, and sliding when we were taking BP. You could tell it was a whole different mentality.”
It worked, as the Aggies pounded LSU 9-2 to even the series at Blue Bell Park after the Tigers won 4-1 on Thursday in the opener. One inning into Friday night’s game, A&M had scored five times as many runs as it did over nine innings the night before.
“We needed something to go our way, and we made things go our way tonight,” A&M coach Rob Childress said.
A series win vital
Now A&M will try to win its first SEC series in four attempts this season in Saturday’s 2 p.m. finale against No. 17 LSU.
“We had that opportunity (at home) a couple of weeks ago against Ole Miss and weren’t able to get it done,” Childress said. “That’s all we can ask for, to be at home with the chance to win a series, and we need one in the worst way.”
The No. 23 Aggies (22-9, 4-7) came out swinging from the start Friday, with their first three hitters — Michael Helman, Foster and Braden Shewmake — all recording singles against LSU starter Caleb Gilbert, the last bringing home Helman for A&M’s first of nine runs.
The Aggies continued the first-inning rally with a sacrifice fly by Hunter Coleman and RBI hits from Cole Bedford, Zach DeLoach and George Janca, in chasing Gilbert before many of the fans had found their seats on the breezy night along the railroad tracks.
“The middle half and the bottom half (of the order), we just kind of tagged on to the hit parade, and kept the swings going,” said DeLoach, who hit seventh in the lineup instead of leadoff for the first time this season.
Doxakis delivers
A&M’s six hits in the five-run first inning were one more than their total in the opener against the Tigers (20-12, 6-5).
The Aggies also will have a fresh bullpen for Saturday’s finale, after Friday’s starter John Doxakis (5-1), a former Lamar High standout, allowed six hits and two runs while striking out five and walking four over eight strong innings.
“Obviously, we had to turn something around,” Doxakis said of the Aggies’ more aggressive pregame approach.
The Aggies are two games into an eight-game homestand that they are hoping helps get them back into contention in the SEC West.
A&M plays host to old Southwest Conference and Big 12 rival Texas on Tuesday in a nonconference contest before welcoming Alabama for a three-game series starting on Thursday.