No. 14 Texas A&M baseball, which was seemingly penciled in for another deep run in the Men’s College World Series at the beginning of the season, has managed to stay above .500 after its 6-2 victory over the Texas Southern Tigers.
The last time freshman right-handed pitcher Aiden Sims got the nod for the Aggies, he accounted for a run, two hits and three strikeouts in his two-inning outing in the team’s loss to Texas State.
“We made the plays that we were supposed to make,” coach Mike Earley said. “We gave ourselves a chance to win the baseball game, and that’s all you can ask for.”
A&M’s offense has struggled to start the year, but it was able to find a spark in Wednesday’s opening inning. A blooper double to right field from senior third baseman Wyatt Henseler set up Aggie runners on second and third. Senior first baseman Gavin Kash brought one run home, and a hit from freshman left fielder Terrence Kiel II tacked on another.
Kiel, who joined A&M from Pace Academy in Atlanta, Georgia, was not just a baseball standout in high school. Kiel drew attention from college football scouts as a wide receiver and cornerback. He finished his football career with over 2,500 all-purpose yards, 57 tackles and six interceptions and was named Co-Offensive Player of the Year. Given his father, Terrence Kiel Sr., who played safety for the Maroon and White before his NFL career, Kiel’s success in any sport should not be a surprise.
In the outfield, the freshman’s football background shines through. His ability to chase down fly balls and make over-the-shoulder catches, combined with his ability to quickly flip his hips both in the outfield and on the basepath really show the translation between the two sports. Kiel would go on to record a hit, RBI, stolen base and a run in the victory.
The Tigers came roaring back in the fourth inning. Texas Southern freshman shortstop Bryce Hughes turned on the first pitch that Sims dealt and sent it back over the left-center field wall. Three pitches later, freshman 3B Jaden Flores smacked one high over the left-field wall. Until the homers, Sims had logged three strikeouts and only two other hits.
The Aggies did not allow the game to stay tied for long. With the bases loaded, junior center fielder Jace LaViolette reached base on balls. The walk triggered the infamous “ball five” chant from Section 203 as graduate designated hitter Hayden Schott trotted across home plate to give A&M a one-run lead. After a scoreless fifth from the Tigers, Schott increased the Aggies’ lead on an RBI single that sent Kiel around third and across home.
LaViolette’s hitting woes from Tuesday night’s matchup carried over into Wednesday. The Tompkins High School alum went 0-for-5 against UTSA and entered the second midweek game hitting .243 on the season, compared to his .385 batting average at this point last season. Against Texas Southern, LaViolette nearly snapped his cold streak with a two-run homer in the sixth inning, but Texas Southern junior CF Daylon Carleton snatched the hard-hit ball out of the air before it could land on the other side of the fence.
“I like the spot [LaViolette’s] in,” Earley said. “They’re going to eventually fall. You can’t change what you’re doing. The hardest part about hitting is kind of being rational because you want the results, and sometimes it doesn’t show, so you just gotta continue to hit balls hard and have good at-bats.”
A&M built on its lead in the sixth on an RBI double from junior SS Kaeden Kent brought home a run before crossing home himself on LaViolette’s sacrificial fly out.
The pitching down the stretch for the Aggies kept the Tigers’ bats at bay. Freshman RHP Gavin Lyons relieved Sims in the fifth inning and halted any semblance of a Tiger comeback. The Guilford, Connecticut native allowed no hits on 36 pitches across three innings in his first appearance for the Aggies.
“My adrenaline was going,” Lyons said. “It was pretty crazy for a Wednesday night. You know, I’m used to like 15, 20 people in Connecticut. It was really just amazing.”
Sophomore RHP Clayton Freshcorn was the dealer in the eighth and recorded two strikeouts in 22 pitches before senior RHP Brad Rudis entered the game in the ninth to close it out for the Aggies.
A&M will look to string a couple wins together when New Mexico State comes to College Station for a weekend series. The final non-conference series will kick off on Friday, with first pitch scheduled for 6 p.m.
“We have something going in this dugout, a mindset we kind of hit,” Earley said. “We’re going to keep pushing this defense intensity every single day, and we’re not going to let off the gas.”
