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LSU Baseball drops the series finale to No. 1 Texas A&M

BATON ROUGE – The lead between LSU baseball and No. 1 Texas A&M wasn't secure.

A&M lost the lead in the first two games of the series as the Tigers rallied to win both and secure the series victory over the top-ranked team by Saturday night.

LSU took a 3-0 lead in the third inning in the series finale on Sunday afternoon. The Aggies put on their own rally caps, securing a ninth in the fifth inning en route to a 14-4 victory on Sunday to salvage a game this weekend at Alex Box Stadium.

The series win marked the third straight conference series victory won by LSU (30-18, 9-15 SEC).

Texas A&M has finally gotten the top of its order going

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One way the Tigers were able to keep the Aggies at bay when they took the lead in the first two games was to hamper the top of the order's ability to find a rhythm and thereby limit the damage. Gavin Grahovac, Braden Montgomery and others struggled to get anything going on Friday and Saturday.

But on Sunday, the lid came off for Grahovac, who hit the go-ahead for three runs in the fifth home run and finished the game 3-for-5 with four RBIs.

In return, A&M was able to string together hits and walks in that fifth inning for the first time in the entire series, building an insurmountable lead that was bolstered by a two-run homer from Jackson Appel and a bases loaded walk from Travis Chestnut.

The lack of time doesn't bother LSU catcher Brady Neal

Brady Neal is no longer in the strong catcher rotation as he is dealing with a shoulder problem that he aggravated during the Missouri series a few weekends ago.

Despite the reduced reps and playing time, it hasn't hindered LSU's second-year catcher at the plate. Neal has hit a home run in four of his last five games, including a two-run blast for the first few runs of the game on Sunday. He is 5 of 14 with six RBIs in his last five games.

Texas A&M's Braden Montgomery has memorable streaks at LSU

Johnson talked during the series about the LSU pitchers mixing up offers with Braden Montgomery, changing his eye level and somehow making it work against arguably the best hitter in college baseball.

Montgomery entered the weekend with a .365 batting average, leading Texas A&M and ranking in the top five in the country. After going 0-for-13 in three games with just two calls, the junior switch-hitter's average has dropped 27 points, following the worst three-game stretch he has had this season.

LSU Baseball climbs in the SEC standings with series win over Texas A&M

With the series win over the Aggies, the Tigers are no longer sweating as much in the SEC tournament field as they were weeks ago.

LSU now sits at No. 10 overall, just one game behind Alabama, which it will face next weekend in another crucial SEC series.

LSU takes the series win LSU baseball rebounds again against No. 1 Texas A&M to win third straight SEC series

LSU TAKES GAME ONE AGAINST TEXAS A&M LSU baseball rebounds to win series opener against No. 1 Texas A&M

Cory Diaz covers the LSU Tigers for The Daily Advertiser as part of the USA TODAY Network. Follow his Tigers coverage on Twitter: @ByCoryDiaz. Have questions about LSU athletics? Send it to Cory Diaz [email protected].

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