Aggies edge Tigers, earn 1st SEC series win
COLLEGE STATION – Texas A&M starting pitcher Mitchell Kilkenny stood in front of multiple television cameras and reporters following Saturday’s game against LSU when a teammate reached through the pack and hit him in the chest with a glove.
Another teammate approached from behind and toyed with his socks and tugged on the bottom of his baseball pants. Another gave him a playful shove in the back.
Unflappable and with the cameras rolling, Kilkenny pressed on – much as he had done over nine innings in the Aggies’ 3-1 victory over the Tigers on Saturday afternoon. The No. 23 Aggies (23-9, 5-7) won their first Southeastern Conference series of the season in four tries, after taking two of three from No. 17 LSU (20-13, 6-6) at Blue Bell Park.
“Everyone is tired of losing on this team,” Kilkenny said. “It’s nice to see everyone come out really aggressively and do anything we could to win.”
The Aggies used a series victory at LSU about this time last year to get a then-wobbly season cranking, and they’re hoping this one has the same impact. A&M had lost two of three to Auburn, Mississippi and Georgia prior to winning its last two games against LSU, after dropping the Thursday opener to the Tigers.
“Huge,” A&M coach Rob Childress said of winning a series. “It allows us to breathe a little bit. We’ve still got a long row to hoe, and a lot of tough series ahead, but to win a series four weeks in was definitely needed.”
The junior Kilkenny (7-0), a former Houston Christian standout, more than did his part by tossing an efficient 107 pitches and allowing five hits while striking out four and walking one in the complete outing.
“He controlled the game from the first inning to the last inning,” Childress said. “I’m really proud he was able to go out and finish the ninth.”
The Aggies own a twogame win streak entering their biggest nonconference contest of the season. They play host to old Southwest Conference and Big 12 rival Texas on Tuesday night in Blue Bell Park. A&M then plays four more consecutive home games, including a series next weekend against Alabama, in trying to draw even or ahead in the SEC win-loss column.
First baseman Hunter Coleman hit a solo home run in the fourth and third baseman George Janca tripled in the sixth on Saturday to give the Aggies all the runs they’d need against their SEC nemesis. A&M started league play poorly last season as well, but rebounded to squeeze into the NCAA Tournament and then went 5-0 in a regional and super regional to make the eight-team College World Series.
“I’ve said it plenty of times before,” Janca said. “There are a lot of peaks and valleys in baseball. You’ve got to continue to compete and give yourselves a chance to win.