Hunter Haas’s Three-Run Homer Sends Aggies To SEC Semifinals
Homer Haas has a nice ring to it.
Hunter Haas entered the bottom of the seventh frustrated. LSU starter Ty Floyd was wheeling against the Texas A&M shortstop, recording three strikeouts — two of which came on 3-2 counts.
But the Tigers went to the pen after five quality innings from the right-hander, a costly mistake by Jay Johnson as a pair of walks forced a second pitching change in the inning. Sam Dutton thought he was coming in to clean up Griffin Herring's mistakes.
Instead, an 0-1 heater gave Hass new life and the Aggies their first lead of the afternoon.
Haas' three-run blast was the difference-maker in A&M's 5-4 win over LSU at the Hoover Metroplex Friday afternoon in Hoover, Ala. The tenth-seeded Aggies not only advance to the semifinals for the second consecutive year, but the victory now gives them their third-ranked win of the tournament.
A&M picked up victories in shutout fashion over Tennessee and South Carolina. Questions surrounded the Aggies on if their resume was enough to grant them a spot in the NCAA Tournament entering the week. Now folks are wondering how high of a seed will A&M receive from the voters.
“Nothing changes, we just (need to) keep playing our game,” Haas told the SEC Network afterward. “We know we have the talent and we know we have the guys, so it’s about clicking, and right now we’re playing fun baseball.”
Haas was the closing act to Friday's festivities, but Will Johnston served as the headliner. Starting pitching, for that matter, has been the storyline surrounding the A&M program this week as what once was considered a weakness now has become the team's best asset.
Johnston, A&M's closer at the start of the season, recorded the first quality start of his career, mowing down Tigers at the right time and following the formula set by Troy Wansing and Justin Lampkin earlier in the week. The junior delivered six strong innings, allowing three runs on eight hits while striking out seven.
“That’s a good LSU lineup over there, and you knew you were going to take some punches at times with mistakes, so you just try to make as few mistakes as possible and continue to fight," Johnston told SEC Network.
Entering the week, the trio of Wansing, Lampkin and Nathan Dettmer posted a combined earned run average of over 6.1. Twelve different pitchers saw action in a starting role, but only Dettmer managed to remain in the weekend's three-man rotation through the 55 regular season games.
Wansing and Lampkin each delivered one-hit shutouts against the Volunteers and Gamecocks, respectively. Johnston, whose ERA sat at 5.26 entering Friday, flirted with trouble throughout the game against the No. 5 team in the nation.
Closers live for working out of jams. In a sense, Johnston's mindset never left the ninth inning. On three different instances, the Tigers plated batters to give them a three-run lead with less than two outs. Johnston held the damage at one run each time.
"Our starting pitching has been so erratic for a lot of reasons. Although I do think the experiences you go through are kind of like the rest of life," A&M manager Jim Schlossangle said. "The experiences you go through, you learn from them and you make adjustments, both as a team and individually."
The Aggies' offense came to life in the seventh after recording three hits in the first six frames. Ryan Targac drew a walk off Herring while Austin Bost smacked a double to center to put runners in scoring position. Brett Minnich's sacrifice fly scored Targac, while Max Kaufer drew a walk to send Haas to the plate.
Two pitches later, A&M had the lead. It also had the momentum.
“I struggled obviously at the beginning of the game, so I kept telling myself, just keep competing,” Haas said postgame to reporters in Hoover. “Don't think about anything else, just keep competing and you are going to get a big one.
Evan Aschenbeck picked up his eighth win of the year, but drama ensued in the ninth. LSU drew within one with one out, but Aschenbeck worked his way around runners at the corner, forcing a strikeout on Gavin Dugas before getting Jobert to pop out in foul territory to end the game.
"As a student-athlete, this is what you live for," Aschenbeck said. "Just bearing down, making pitches that were called because I know that I have full trust in whatever coach puts in the pitch call. And just making pitches is the biggest thing.”
A&M returns to "The Met" Saturday afternoon at noon for a single-elimination rematch against second-seed Arkansas. The winner will advance to the SEC Championship, while the loser will head home to prepare for regionals.
"I expect tomorrow to be another really competitive game, and I'm looking forward to it," Haas said.
A&M's holistic run in Hoover has all but given the program a chance to return to Omaha, but sights are set on roasting the Hogs for the first time this season with a shot at the conference title on the line.
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