BATON ROUGE, Louisiana – Brigham Hill didn’t allow a runner to reach second base in his 8.0 innings of work as the Texas A&M Aggies toppled the No. 8 LSU Tigers, 4-0, in the series opener Thursday at Alex Box Stadium
Hill (5-2) and Mitchell Kilkenny held LSUI to four hits in the shutout. Hill scattered three hits and two walks while grabbing the Tigers by the toe with seven strikeouts. The junior set a new career-high for innings pitched. Kilkenny worked the ninth, allowing a leadoff hit, but stranding the runner at third.
The Aggies (18-9, 2-5 SEC) broke the scoring seal in the top of the fifth inning. With one out, Coll Stanley roped a single up the middle, the first SEC hit of his career. After Stanley moved to second on a pickoff attempt by the catcher that sailed down the rightfield line, Nick Choruby deposited a 1-0 offering the over the rightfield fence for his third home run of the season and the 2-0 lead.
After missing opportunities for insurance runs in multiple innings, the Maroon and White stacked on xxx more runs in the top of the ninth. Jorge Gutierrez reached on an error by the second baseman to start the inning. He was replaced at first base by pinch-runner Tommy Gillman. With the hit-and-run on, Austin Homan laced a single to the hole vacated by the second baseman covering the bag, putting runners on the corners. Homan moved to second on a wild pitch and Walker Pennington drew a six-pitch walk to fill the bags with Ags. After Choruby struck out swinging for the second out of the inning, Cole Bedford delivered a single through the left side of the infield, knocking in two for the 4-0 lead.
LSU starter Alex Lange (3-3) battled hard through 8.0 innings, allowing two runs on nine hits and one walk while striking out 12.
Bedford and Choruby each notched two RBI. Bedford, Shewmake, Davis and Kopetsky notched two hits apiece.
The Aggies and Tigers return to action Friday at 8 p.m.
Head Coach Rob Childress
On Brigham Hill…
“I couldn’t be more proud of Brigham. He was very determined all week long. I felt like the last three innings of the Vanderbilt he kind of found his delivery again. He commanded the fast ball to both sides of the plate. He outdueled an All-American in Alex Lange. It was a Thursday night fight.”
On Nick Choruby‘s home run…
That was a big spot. It allowed us to breathe a little bit. He’s been swinging the bat well lately. He had a really big home run for us on Tuesday to stop Texas State’s momentum and this one was even bigger. I think Cole Bedford‘s hit was big, too, in the ninth. Those two runs made the ninth inning a little less tense.”
On winning the series opener…
“It’s very important. With where we are and what we’ve done the first couple of weeks of conference play, it was important us to start playing better. It’s time to start playing as well as we’re capable of playing. I think we’ve seen the team come out and start to play like that last Sunday and Tuesday and again tonight.”
Junior RHP Brigham Hill
On his outing…
“I had command of my fastball today. That was the difference between tonight and the last few outings. It’s a lot easier to pitch when that’s working. And I can’t say enough about the defense. They made some great plays out there.”
Story courtesy of Texas A&M Athletics