COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Right-hander Paul Skenes jumped up and down after he struck out his 11th batter to close the sixth inning against Texas A&M on Friday at Blue Bell Park.
Skenes went on to face one batter in the seventh, inducing a flyout before he was pulled. It marked his fifth straight start with double-digit strikeouts.
Skenes blanked an Aggies lineup through 6⅓ innings, giving up four hits against those 11 strikeouts. He didn’t walk a single batter as No. 1 LSU rode his start to a 9-0 victory over No. 15 Texas A&M to open Southeastern Conference play.
"He could do it against a major league lineup right now and I believe that," LSU coach Jay Johnson said. "And I believe that wholly."
Two weeks ago, Skenes was uneasy about using his secondary pitches as much since the fastball was working against the nonconference competition. Against the Aggies, he mixed the slider with his 100 mph fastball, but still didn't throw his changeup as much.
"I knew I was going to have to use it (the slider) more and I went out there and did it, executing like I had to in the fall and winter and it was exactly the way I could have drawn it out," Skenes said. "They got four hits, but they didn't get four hits in a row and no walks with a tight zone back there — it was validating."
The Tigers (17-1, 1-0 SEC) got off to a hot start despite nonfavorable conditions. It was 55 degrees with 15 mph wind gusts blowing in when the first pitch was thrown — nothing would leave the park.
Both Tre’ Morgan and Dylan Crews lined back-to-back singles and Tommy White drew a walk to load the bases with one out in the first inning. Morgan then scored on Gavin Dugas’ sacrifice fly and Crews came in on Josh Pearson’s single for a 3-0 lead.
Pearson made his fourth start of the season. While he has appeared in 12 of LSU's past 17 games, Pearson had taken the back seat when Morgan moved to left field for 10 games despite having started 35 games as a freshman last season. He finished Friday night going 2 for 4 with a walk and two RBIs.
"I have a lot of trust in him, and I've seen him match up in these games against these types of pitchers," Johnson said. "Just because a guy hasn't been in there every day doesn't mean he's not an SEC type of college baseball player. I had a good feeling about the work that he'd been putting in the last couple of weeks."
Morgan and Crews got LSU going again in the third. Morgan singled to left field, then Crews doubled to right field, advancing Morgn to third. Morgan scored on a wild pitch and White drove in Crews on a single to give LSU a 4-0 lead it held for five more innings.
Morgan and Crews both went 2 for 3. Morgan drew one walk and Crews drew two. White went 2 for 4 with three RBIs.
"When we stepped in the field to take some (batting practice), we could see the flags flowing in very heavily, so the ball can't get too high if we want a base hit," Morgan said. "So during (batting practice), I was kind of keeping it as high as the dowel screen, just punching it like I always do. When I got in the game, I was trying to do the same thing."
The performance extended Crews' hitting streak to 16 games.
While the Tigers tattooed Aggies starter Nathan Dettmer with six hits through the first three innings, he didn’t allow anymore after that. Dettmer gave up four earned runs, walked four and struck out five before left-hander Shane Sdao relieved him in the seventh.
The Aggies (13-5, 0-1) threatened in the bottom of the eighth, advancing a runner to third for the first time the game — it was also the first time since the first inning the Aggies had a runner in scoring position — when Hunter Haas doubled down the left-field line.
That was when LSU reliever Nate Ackenhausen, who walked one and struck out two to retire the side in the seventh inning, walked two and struck out one before coaxing a groundout that advanced the runners to scoring position.
Christian Little came on in relief, inducing a flyout to strand the runners.
Aggies right-handed closer Carson Lambert threw 43 pitches in the top of ninth inning trying to get the Tigers out. Instead, he gave up five runs.
Paxton Kling doubled to kick it off, then Morgan was hit by a pitch and Crews walked. White lined a ball through the right-side gap to plate two runners for a 6-0 lead. The next three runs were scored on Pearson's walk with the bases loaded, Jared Jones' sacrifice fly and Milazzo's groundout.
"We want to be a team that can win any type of game. When the wind is blowing in or in a pitcher's duel or slug fest," Johnson said. "They executed those nine and the way batting practice was going, four runs seemed like 12 tonight."
Little returned in the ninth to finish off the Aggies.
LSU will return to Blue Bell Park at 2 p.m. Saturday to try to capture the series win.