It’s been a rough couple of weeks for Texas A&M baseball. Dominant for most of the season, the Aggies showed signs of weakness in their series loss to LSU. Then, after a quick midweek win against Rice, A&M looked to put itself back in the conference win column against an average Ole Miss team that sat at an overall record of 25-23 with a 9-15 conference record to boot.
However, the script flipped on the Aggies. In what was supposed to be a relatively easy series win, the Rebels came out running, and just like that, they won the first two games to stun A&M.
With the series lost, the Maroon and White came out in Game 3 on Sunday, May 12 aiming to salvage something from their visit to Swayze Field, and with a 6-0 win, they got just that.
In the previous two games, A&M had been outhit and outclassed. In Game 3, the Aggies looked like their former selves as they finally put together their best performance of the weekend, tripling the Rebels’ hits and didn’t give them any momentum from the mound.
Though Game 1 and Game 2 saw Ole Miss hitting and scoring early, sophomore LHP Shane Sdao put an end to the streak, working perfect frames in the first and second innings.
At the plate, the Aggies heated up in the third after being held to zero hits with freshman LF Caden Sorrell striking first with a solo shot to right field.
Following two quiet frames, A&M had its biggest offensive showing in the sixth, pouncing on relief sophomore RHP JT Quinn. After a pitch hit freshman 3B Gavin Grahovac and a single from sophomore CF Jace LaViolette, the Maroon and White extended their lead after an RBI fielder’s choice from junior RF Braden Montgomery.
With momentum in hand, the Aggies kept it up with Montgomery reaching second after a failed pickoff attempt. A single from senior C Jackson Appel had A&M on the cusp of scoring again. With senior 1B Ted Burton at-bat, he doubled down the left field line to bring home Appel and Montgomery. After the Maroon and Whites’ offensive explosion, Quinn’s day was done.
In the other bullpen, A&M closed out the game flawlessly as Sdao, with relievers junior RHP Josh Stewart and senior LHP Evan Aschenbeck, allowed zero hits and gave up zero bases from the sixth inning out.
Offensively, the Maroon and White kept extending their lead starting with a LaViolette RBI sac fly to bring home senior 2B Chestnut in the seventh and adding another run in the ninth after Chestnut scored on a wild pitch.
A&M welcomes No. 5 Arkansas to College Station in its last series of the season starting on Thursday, May 16.
