Texas A&M completed its first three-game Big 12 conference sweep since 2003 on Sunday against Kansas. After throwing their top two starters on Friday and Saturday, it was sophomore Carson Middleton’s turn to help the Aggies win their first conference Sunday game.
A&M got off to a hot start at the plate against Kansas starter Sam Freeman. Shortstop Jose Duran knocked a bases-loaded single to begin the scoring frenzy in the first inning. Designated hitter Darby Brown knocked a grand slam in the next at bat to give the Aggies an early 5-0 lead.
The Aggies then scored another run in the top of the second inning to extend their lead 6-0. However, the Jayhawks struck back in the bottom of the inning. Between Middleton and relievers Hank Robertson and Scott Migl, Kansas was able to take the lead with a seven-run inning behind two doubles and four singles.
The Jayhawks extended their lead to 8-6 in the bottom of the sixth inning when left fielder John Allman scored from third on Erik Morrison’s two-out single to center field.
Brown struck again in the top of the seventh with two outs and his team down by two. Earlier in the inning, second baseman Blake Stouffer walked and stole second on a strikeout. On a 0-1 pitch, Brown sent the ball deep over the wall to score two and tie the game at 8-8.
“I’m in a groove,” Brown said. “I feel very blessed to have the success I had this weekend and I just want to try and stick with it.”
The Aggies broke the tie in the top of the eighth inning behind the bat of third baseman Dane Carter. Carter has earned the nickname “Great Dane” from A&M fans because of his .435 batting average and five homeruns this season. With two outs and two on base, Carter hit a single off a 2-2 pitch into centerfield to score two and give the Aggies a 10-8 lead.
Closer Travis Starling closed the door on the Jayhawks in the ninth inning, holding them without a run and completing the sweep.
“We got a lot of things we can draw from this past week,” A&M Head Coach Rob Childress said about completing the sweep. “The last four games a lot of times we were down and we sucked it up and found that toughness.”
It was the second game of the series that the Aggies had to rally to take the win. On Saturday, A&M was down 6-3 in the eighth inning when first baseman Luke Anders hit a three run homer to tie the game. The Aggies would win the game in the tenth inning when Carter hit a two RBI single to give his team a 9-6 lead.
Behind relievers Kyle Thebeau and Starling the Aggies held the Jayhawks without a run for the final four innings.
“This was a huge win,” Starling said. “It was win number 20, and when we look back on it at the end of the year this will be one of the bigger ones.”
A&M had another big first inning on Friday night. They scored eight runs to take a commanding early lead and proceeded to score five more in the game before it was over. Freshman starter Brooks Raley only gave up two runs in the first six innings, but struggled in the seventh and gave up two more, though the Aggies already had an 11-2 lead.
“I didn’t think [Raley] had great command tonight, but he competed extremely hard,” Childress said. “We played incredible defense for seven innings tonight and it was good to see us come up with runners in scoring position.”