Series Preview: Daunting SEC slate continues as Ags host No. 2 LSU

Also included above is a TexAgs Live segment with J.B. Moss, Ryan Brauninger, Richard Zane and Scott Clendenin from Friday morning, previewing this weekend’s series at No. 2 LSU.

Who: No. 2 Louisiana State Tigers (37-9, 14-7 in SEC)
Where: Olsen Field at Blue Bell Park - Bryan-College Station, TX
When:

Friday: 6 p.m. CT (SEC Network+/ESPN+)
Saturday: 2 p.m. CT (SEC Network+/ESPN+)
Sunday: 1 p.m. CT (SEC Network+/ESPN+)

Pitching matchups

Friday: LHP Ryan Prager (2-3, 4.04 ERA) vs. LHP Kade Anderson (6-1, 3.76 ERA)
Saturday: LHP Justin Lamkin (3-5, 3.92 ERA) vs. RHP Anthony Eyanvson (6-2, 3.49 ERA)
Sunday: LHP Myles Patton (3-3, 4.84 ERA) vs. TBA

Scouting Louisiana State

Jay Johnson’s Bayou Bengals are once again one of the nation’s top teams. Not only does LSU have an extremely talented roster, but they put the college baseball world on notice with last week’s series victory over Tennessee that ended in a 12-2 run-rule of the Volunteers at Alex Box Stadium.

At 14-7 in the league, the Tigers have an outside shot at the SEC’s regular-season title, especially if Texas is going to fall back toward the pack (if the Horns’ 9-0 Thursday loss to Arkansas is any indication for the remainder of the weekend). Entering Friday’s action, LSU sits 4.5 games behind Texas for the league lead and just a half game behind Arkansas for second in the SEC. Needless to say, this is an important series for the purple and gold as they can’t get caught looking ahead to next week’s showdown with the Razorbacks in Baton Rouge.

© SCOTT CLAUSE/USA TODAY Network

Since Jay Johnson took the reins in Baton Rouge, LSU is 4-2 vs. Texas A&M in the regular season and has won both of the last two series.

As has been the case in recent memory, LSU is paced by its potent lineup. Currently, four Tigers have driven in 40 or more runs this season. Steven “Monster” Milam is listed at 5-foot-8, but the shortstop has 40 RBIs and nine homers with a .530 slugging percentage. Completing the double-play combo is second baseman Daniel Dickinson, who is hitting .338 with a 1.045 OPS and 40 RBIs. Meanwhile, SEC Freshman of the Year candidate Derek Curiel is hitting a team-high .380 with a 1.101 OPS from the leadoff spot. The rookie from West Covina, Calif., was named the SEC’s Freshman of the Week for hitting .417 (5-for-12) with two doubles, one homer and six RBIs in the series vs. Tennessee.

Of course, that’s intentionally burying the lede and offensive leader that is Jared Jones. Known as “Bear” (that certainly won’t get him confused with Bear Harrison), Jones has impressive numbers in 2025 that don’t necessarily do his current run of form justice. On the year, the nation’s top first baseman, according to D1Baseball, has a .357 average with 15 homers. He has a club-leading 1.135 OPS with an incredibly 59 runs driven in. The right-handed hitter absolutely melts baseballs. Don’t believe me? Just go look at his walk-off homer that beat Tennessee last Friday night. It disappeared into the Baton Rouge night and eventually cleared the batter’s eye (possibly hitting Tiger Stadium on the fly).

While Paul Skenes is two years removed from toeing the rubber on a Friday night in Aggieland, LSU also possesses a true ace in its rotation in Kade Anderson. A 6-foot-2 draft-eligible sophomore, the southpaw is making a case for SEC Pitcher of the Year with 102 strikeouts against just 16 walks in 64.2 innings pitched. He does it with a 92-94 mph fastball that will jump up to 97 combined with a mid-80s slider and a changeup. However, outside of his 135-pitch complete-game shutout at Oklahoma a month ago, Anderson has been beatable away from “The Box” this year. In his last road start, Auburn tagged him for six runs (five earned) on six hits in just 4.1 innings.

Right-handed junior Anthony Eyanson will take the ball in Game 2, and he has a better ERA than Anderson (3.49 to 3.76) and has struck out 91 in 59.1 innings. While Johnson currently has “TBA” penciled in to start Sunday’s finale, he has 11 arms other than Anderson and Eyanson that have made 10 or more appearances this season. Needless to say, the Tigers will have plenty of options to cover this three-game set in College Station.

Texas A&M storylines to watch

Michael Earley and the Aggies already knew that the margins are razor-thin in Southeastern Conference ballgames, but that lesson was repeats over and over and over again last week in Austin as the game highlighted the importance of executing the “little things.” In each rivalry loss, A&M can point to specific situations or individual pitches as the difference between winning and losing. Whether it's bunt coverages, bunt execution, moving the baseball with men in scoring position or throwing strikes in critical spots, the Ags must play cleaner baseball against their fourth top-two opponent in a span of five weeks.

Even with key aspects to be sharpened or cleaned up, the Maroon & White are still playing extremely high-level baseball as they’ve done a fantastic job of resurrecting their season to this point. The challenge vs. LSU will be to take it up another notch as the job is far from finished in terms of guaranteeing an at-large spot in next month’s NCAA Tournament.

Jamie Maury

Caden Sorrell is slugging .709 with a 1.118 OPS in 14 conference games.

Even in Tuesday night’s homer fest vs. Lamar, Earley was unhappy with his club’s situational hitting. Sure, Ben Royo drove in a career-high eight runs, and Caden Sorrell launched home runs No. 8 and No. 9 in just his 19th game this season. However, the Ags were just 1-for-7 (.143) with runners in scoring position coming off a weekend in Austin when they went 4-for-30 (.133) with RISP. Obviously, that’s far from good enough and won’t breed success this weekend vs. an LSU club that’s capable of scoring in bunches.

For the offense to get back to the production seen at Tennessee and Arkansas, Sorrell must remain his super-human self. He’s slashing .377/.494/.870 with the nine pumps and 24 RBIs, typically swinging it from the clean-up spot. Additionally, the aforementioned Royo has proven to be a steady producer at the bottom of the order with hits in each of his last six games. Further, Blake Binderup and his mechanical adjustments continue to reap the rewards of trusting the process as he’s riding an eight-game hitting streak with a base knock in 12 of his last 13.

Those are the current top performers. Now imagine what A&M can do if the likes of Jace LaViolette, Harrison and Kaeden Kent get back to swinging the way we know they can. Sticking with “Lord Tubbington,” he’s not far removed from being the SEC’s Player of the Week after having his best weekend as an Aggie in Fayetteville. However, he’s 1-for-15 in his last four ballgames, but he has proven plenty of times during his illustrious A&M career that his rough patches don’t last long. After the success in Knoxville, Harrison was the SEC’s leader in slugging percentage and OPS. Since sweeping South Carolina, the Aggie backstop has just three hits in 30 at-bats. Getting that big bat back into form would be massive for A&M. Oh, and speaking of hitting with men in scoring position, Kent has proven to be clutch numerous times in his home ballpark, particularly with the bases loaded. More “Clutch Kent” may be required in another tightly contested series.

Last week, Aggie pitching proved to be capable of shutting down a strong offense as Ryan Prager, Justin Lamkin and Myles Patton were up to the task in three consecutive well-played and well-pitched ballgames. While none of them earned a victory for their quality efforts on the mound, the fact that they exhibited the guts necessary to compete night in and night out in this league across the entire weekend was massive. Getting performances like what that left-handed trio turned in vs. the Longhorns will be required this weekend, next weekend, in Athens in the regular-season finale, in Hoover for the SEC Tournament and in a regional, should the Ags get there. Jason Kelly’s crew just needs to show that their starts in the Lone Star Showdown can be a launching point for the rest of the season.

Lastly, in the bullpen, Earley said on Thursday that right-handed reliever Weston Moss is still battling the illness that hampered him vs. Texas, but the Aggie skipper did say that the changeup machine will be available against the Tigers. Given that Moss has been A&M’s most reliable bullpen arm for most of conference play, it is imperative that southpaws Caden McCoy and Kaiden Wilson continue to succeed. Additionally, with Moss being managed more so than ever given his health, Luke Jackson needs to revert back to the guy we saw in Fayetteville, as he could be the key between a series win vs. a loss.

And yes, we’re watching the weather and the forecast. The schedule has not been altered...yet.

What’s at stake this weekend

The calendar has turned to May.

There are three weeks left in the regular season and a single-elimination SEC Tournament at the end of the month.

Where A&M’s sweep in Austin hurts the most (beyond the constant reminder and embarrassment of losing to your most hated rival) is that it kept the Aggies sitting at eight SEC victories.

Most pundits believe that 13 will guarantee them a postseason bid. With nine to play, A&M must win at least five.

The Aggies need at least one this weekend. A series victory over No. 2 LSU would be a massive step and pad that resume even further.

No doubt, the Maroon & White must put last weekend’s frustrations behind them. There are bigger things to play for, and this three-game set with the Bayou Bengals is yet another difficult test along a daunting and winding path that could eventually lead the Ags to the postseason. #BTHOlsu