On paper, the No. 6 Vanderbilt Commodores were supposed to be the toughest test yet for No. 3 Texas A&M baseball. Yet, in Round 1 on April 12, the Maroon and White gave the sold out crowd plenty to cheer about with a run-rule win.
Putting its foot on the gas, A&M authored a similar chapter with a 9-0 win in Game 2 to the delight of 8,075 people, the largest crowd since Olsen Field’s 2012 renovation and sixth-largest in program history.
Though the big scorers have been star duo sophomore CF Jace LaViolette and junior RF Braden Montgomery, senior 2B Travis Chestnut stamped his name in the scoring books with his first homer of the season, spearing the ball to left field.
Chestnut’s score came at the bottom of the fourth, and by then, it was already 7-0, as the Aggies stunned the Commodores right off the bat.
With elite bullpen play so far in the season, and off the cusp of a dominant performance by redshirt sophomore LHP Ryan Prager, junior RHP Tanner Jones continued the pitching campaign with a 1-2-3 frame to open up the game.
In a sign for things to come, freshman 3B Gavin Grahovac knocked down his 12th homer in front of the 12th Man.
Unfortunately for junior LHP Carter Holton, A&M’s wheeling and dealing was just getting started. Senior C Jackson Appel continued the early onslaught with an RBI single, hitting to center field as LaViolette came home. With the bases loaded, Holton walked junior SS Ali Camarillo as Montgomery scored and right after, freshman LF Caden Sorrell’s sac fly with throwing errors scored the Aggies two more runs.
Though the next two innings were quiet, the Aggies resurged behind Chestnut’s homer. Just before Horton’s night was done, Appel scored his second RBI of the night, singling again to center field to widen the gap to give Horton his first loss of the season.
The change to sophomore RHP David Horn Jr. did little to slow down A&M’s momentum as Sorrell scored on a wild pitch after Horn Jr. loaded up the bases by hitting Sorrell, walking Chestnut and sending Grahovac to first after a fielding error.
In a rare game where the junior didn’t have to hit homers, Montgomery managed to tack on an RBI single after a ground out as Chestnut scored.
On the mound, Jones earned his third win of the season. In 7.1 innings, the righty let up six hits, one walk and five strikeouts before senior LHP Evan Aschenbeck came in as relief. Wrapping up the final inning, the southpaw gave the Commodores no chance as he finished the game with a 1-2-3 frame.
With the series win in hand, A&M will host Vanderbilt for a third time to finish off the series on Sunday, April 14.
