Battling against high winds and low temperatures, Texas A&M baseball completed the series sweep against Elon 12-6 on Sunday, Feb. 16.

Coach Mike Earley decided to lead off the bullpen with the Long Beach State transfer, junior left-handed pitcher Myles Patton. The California native threw his best game against Milwaukee in March of last year, totaling 13 strikeouts in six innings.

Patton kicked things off by striking out junior designated hitter Charlie Granatell and adding two groundouts for a 1-2-3 finish. 

Boos and nasty remarks emerged from the 12th Man when Phoenix graduate P Declan Lavelle hit sophomore second baseman Gavin Grahavoc with the first pitch. However, junior centerfielder Jace LaViolette responded with a 380-foot bomb to right field for the two-run RBI. 

“I mean, I don’t think you can prepare for that if you’re an opponent, and it’s always coming, right?” Earley said about the 12th Man’s presence. “Like when we get a 3-0 count, I’m rooting for ball four just as much as they are. Sometimes I catch myself wanting to join in with them. [The 12th Man] do an awesome job. And, yeah, it’s a weapon, and we got to utilize it.”

Another round of boos ignited from the crowd as Lavelle hit his second batter in redshirt sophomore first baseman Blake Binderup before ending the Aggies’ bats with a fly out, 2-0.

Patton was slinging in his first start on the mound for A&M, throwing out three-straight Elon batters in the top of the second. Patton finished with eight strikeouts and four hits throughout his five innings on the mound.

“Obviously, I’ve never pitched in the SEC,” Patton said. “So I think it’s just a different game, a little bit, just better hitters, better competition overall. I think just being able to pick those veterans’ brains, especially this is something that’s really helped me a lot. Just kind of refined my process and learned just a lot about myself and about the game as a whole.”

Freshman right fielder Terrence Kiel got things started in the top of the third with a ground-shot single to left field. The newcomer out of Pace Academy had himself a weekend, finishing the second game of the weekend series 2-of-4 at the plate with one run.

Playing a game of cat-and-mouse at first base, Patton tried to catch Phoenix’s junior CF Tank Yaghoubi out at first to no avail as the pitcher was barely late with the throw in all three of his attempts. Patton sent the Elon batters right back out on defense after another two strikeouts. 

The Elon bats were relatively silent once again in the top of the fourth, with junior INF Ryan Sprock being the only batter to register a hit. 

The Maroon and White found some life on offense again in the bottom of the fourth, with Binderup starting off with a single to center field and junior shortstop Kaden Kent ending up on first after another walk by Lavelle.

As the “ball five” chants began to emit from the stands after the graduate walked Kiel, Lavelle faced an imposing task of not allowing another. Although he didn’t allow a walk, he did allow junior catcher Jacob Galloway to break open the score with a two-RBI hit through the right side. Grahovac kept the trend going with his own RBI single, this time to the left side as the Aggies took a five-run lead.

Elon finally broke its scoring seal in the top of the fifth after two back-to-back doubles were hit to the outfield, the second coming off of redshirt sophomore CF Vince Fattore’s bat before being dropped by LaViolette. Yaghoubi earned his second hit of the game on a ground-out to first that resulted in the one run RBI, A&M up 5-1.

The 12th Man continued heckling Lavelle as he struggled to find the zone once again, walking the first two Fightin’ Farmers to start the bottom of the fifth. Phoenix coach Mike Kennedy took quick notice and replaced the New York native with freshman P Cade Mustard. 

The eager freshman was met with the same coldness from the home crowd as he loaded up the bases by walking Binderup. The names of sandwich condiments emerged from the 12th Man as the pressure from the Olsen Field faithful proved to be too much for Mustard. Kent felt similar, hammering a grand slam past the right field fence to rub salt in Mustard’s sandwiched-sized wound. The grand slam is Kent’s third as an Aggie.

Galloway felt as though he was missing out on the fun, so he decided to crush his own two-run homer to the same spot as Kent’s. 

Ketchup, aioli, relish, teriyaki, sweet and sour, tabasco and horseradish were among some of the names Mustard suffered at the cost of the formidable home crowd. Eventually it became clear to Elon’s pitching staff that they needed a new face on the mound, and Mustard was retired for junior P Itali Spinoza, effectively ending the inning with A&M holding an 11-1 lead.. 

The Phoenix remained competitive throughout the bottom of the sixth, pushing one score across home after a walk and wild pitch led up to a double hit, one-RBI hit to center field from Sprock. Graduate INF Will Vergantino kept up the hitting pace with a single to left-center field, pushing another run through home.

The Elon offense stayed in the game late in the seventh inning thanks to another score off a hit by Vergantino, partly due to poor pitching from the Maroon and White. Senior P Brad Rudis made his way to the mound to close out the evening, allowing one run in one and a half innings. 

The end of the game showcased a back-and-forth effort from Elon’s offense and A&M’s defense, ultimately wrapping up in the eighth inning as the Fightin’ Farmers took Game 3, 12-6.

Next, the Aggies will resume their home stretch with a mid-week matchup against McNeese on Tuesday, Feb. 18, at 6 p.m. on SECN+.