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College  | Story  | 4/24/2015

Tigers rally for big walkoff win

Jheremy Brown     
Photo: LSU


Texas A&M Feature | Weekend Preview

With all the hype building up to Thursday night's series opening game between the top two ranked teams, it would’ve been hard to draw it up any better than the way the game actually unfolded. Prime time under the lights, a nationally televised broadcast complete with power arms, high profile bats, spectacular defensive plays, a comeback in the top of the ninth, and of course a walk off win for the home team.

Game one may have outdone itself in the eyes of an onlooking fan or it may just be setting the tempo for what’s in store the rest of the series. Thursday night had an abundance of little plays that go unnoticed in the box score, like a perfectly executed hit and run or a diving play in center field to sway the momentum from one dugout to the other. However you want to look at it, the top two teams came out and played like the top two teams, helping the opener live up to its billing.

Being handed the ball under the lights in Alex Box Thursday night looked like just another outing for sophomore lefthander Jared Poché, who didn’t seem to notice all the theatrics surrounding the game. Instead, he got on the mound and gave his team a chance to win, just as he has done in his 10 prior starts this spring.

While he may not be overly physical or as imposing as a 6-foot-4 arm, Poché came at hitters, attacking with his fastball early before beginning to implement his off-speed. Through the first two innings Poché was working almost exclusively with his fastball, something the Aggie hitters were noticing and jumping on early and often. Not working the corners early also allowed the first two A&M hitters to record base hits, swaying the momentum into the Aggie dugout within a couple pitches. After the second inning though the momentum was all Poché’s, especially after the Tigers were able to tie it up at two apiece in the fourth inning.

Coming out at 91 mph with the first pitch of the game, the Louisiana native began to work comfortably in the 87-90 mph range with his heater, though in the fifth inning he was more 89-91. His frame is well proportioned and is filled out with present strength, helping to allow Poché carry his velocity over the course of a game. With a full arm action and an extended three-quarters release his fastball shows nice life to his arm side, something that helped his changeup become that much more of an effective pitch.

Getting ahead and staying ahead was key and he did just that, never throwing more than 12 pitches in an inning (coincidentally he threw 12 pitches in each of the first two innings) and finished seven strong innings on just 65 pitches while facing a tough Aggie offense. Generally thrown in the low-80s, Poché’s changeup was a pitch he showed from the opening inning to the seventh and was equally as effective throughout. Thrown from the same slot while featuring the same type of life to his arm side as his fastball, just 8-10 mph slower, Poché was able to get Aggie hitters out on their front foot, eliminating hard barrel contact and begun to induce weak fly ball contact.

Also developing throughout the outing was his curveball, a pitch that he hadn’t shown until the third inning and may ultimately be his best pitch. Thrown in the upper-70s, he continued to sharpen the bite of it throughout, and in the sixth inning it was at its best with late snap while locating to his arm side, backdoor to righthanded hitters. The depth and velocity were both there to make it an effective pitch, but more importantly so was his feel for it, giving him a true three-pitch arsenal that he could throw at any time.

While he didn’t generate a ton of swings and misses, picking up just one strikeout, that wasn’t a part of the game plan as he continued to fill up the zone (no walks), induce early contact, and stay off barrels.


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