Texas A&M athletics as a whole has infuriated the SEC.
As if A&M didn’t make a statement in the college football world on Thursday, May 19, A&M’s baseball team continued to dominate and fuel the flame, taking Game 1 over Ole Miss in Oxford, Miss., 10-5.
In the top of the ninth, things got heated between the two SEC foes when both benches were issued warnings after sophomore infielder Jack Moss and senior outfielder Dylan Rock finished off the Rebels with two solo back-to-back homers. Subsequently, Ole Miss pitcher John Gaddis launched a pitch right at junior infielder Austin Bost, resulting in an ejection and suspension for the next four games. Ole Miss head coach Mike Bianco followed suit, but was only suspended from Game 2 of the series.
New head coach Jim Schlossnagle’s first year has quickly turned into a fun one for Aggie fans. The maroon and white lead the SEC West with a record of 18-10. Game 1 of A&M’s last regular-season series is just a glimpse of the program’s transformation after going 9-21 last season in the SEC.
In the first inning, Rock’s first bomb of the day started off the scoring and RBI single from graduate catcher Troy Claunch gave the Aggies a 3-0 lead over the Rebels.
A&M added on to its lead in the second, when bases were loaded and an Ole Miss error sent two runners home. Targac followed that up with a 2-RBI single to increase the scoring gap to 7-0.
“Obviously, that was great for us to get off to [a] great start in the first inning,” Schlossnagle said. “We needed it. We didn’t score for a little while there.”
Ole Miss responded with three runs of its own to make it a 7-3 ballgame. Throughout the middle innings, the Rebels slowly chipped away at A&M’s lead, scoring one run in the fourth and sixth. The Aggies were not able to gain any momentum until late.
“Even though we were winning the game, it didn’t feel like we were controlling it,” Schlossnagle said.
One A&M run in the eighth and Moss and Rock’s back-to-back homeruns in the ninth pulled the lead out of grasp from the Rebels, sending them home with a suspended head coach for Game 2 and an addition to the losing column.
“That last ball that [Jack] Moss hit was one of the farthest balls I’ve ever seen hit,” Rock said. “That ball was absolutely hammered.”
The Aggies will take Hollingsworth Field at Vaught–Hemingway Stadium in Oxford, Miss., on Friday, May 20, as they look to take the series, which would be their seventh-straight series win. First pitch is scheduled for 7:02 p.m. on SEC Network+.
