Fresh off a 9-2 win over No. 24 Texas, No. 7 Texas A&M baseball had three streaks going.
The first one, and arguably the most important, was the Aggies riding a 12-game win streak heading into their March 6 matchup against Texas Southern University. The second one consisted of a 16 wins and zero loss history against the Tigers. And last but not least, A&M hadn’t given up a home run so far this season.
Early on, starting pitchers freshman RHP Isaac Morton and junior LHP James Malone gave early fits to hitters. Morton started off hot, only allowing one hit while throwing seven strikeouts and finished with 3.86 ERA before junior RHP Brad Rudis relieved him.
While ranked 16th in the country in batting average, the Aggies were shut down early thanks to Malone. The lefty gave the Maroon and White fits as he gave up only one run with two strikeouts and had a team-high seven ground outs.
Not shortly after, A&M found itselves with good news and bad news. The good news came in the form of freshman 3B Gavin Grahovac’s RBI single to put the Aggies up 1-0. The bad news: the Tigers immediately responded with a two-run homer by senior 3B Jaden Jones, putting Texas Southern in the lead as well as breaking A&M’s lack of home run streak.
Texas Southern kept up its momentum with an RBI single by junior 2B Jesse Herrera III and after the top of the seventh, the first two streaks were jeopardized.
However, the Aggies finally broke through after senior DH Hayden Schott topped his three-RBI performance against the Longhorns with a three-run homer to center field. Though the Aggies loaded up the bases, junior SS Ali Camarillo’s pop out marked the end of the seventh as A&M reclaimed the lead.
Coming in to relieve senior RHP Zane Badmaev in the seventh inning, junior RHP Josh Stewart continued A&M’s momentum in the eighth and earned a win to his name as he threw four strikeouts, two hits and finished with 0.00 ERA in 1.1 innings played.
After the junior pitcher held it down for the Aggies, the Aggies blew it wide open after Texas Southern junior RHP Isaac Garcia relieved junior RHP Dalton Alford. Sophomore 2B Kaeden Kent got the ball going after singling and advancing to second after a wild pitch. After Grahovac earned a free base due to being hit, junior RF Braden Montgomery nailed a three-run homer to left field, marking his fourth home run in the last five games and put the Aggies up 7-3.
Looking to put the Tigers away for good, senior RHP Brock Peery earned two strikeouts and after a Herrera walk, sophomore RHP Peyton Smith came in to finish the game off.
However, Texas Southern still had some life left after junior Noah Butler pinch ran for Herrera, advancing to third after a wild pitch. Sophomore Jason Lazo cut A&M’s lead to 7-4 after an RBI single but after a ground out to Jones, Texas A&M officially tacked on another win to its win streak.
“Winning is hard,” coach Jim Schlossnagle said. “Continuing to win in this sport is even harder. The game can’t be played with tension and as soon as we don’t score some runs early in this game, ‘tension, tension, tension.’ It’s a good lesson for us to learn.”
After a day of rest, the Aggies will return to Blue Bell Park on Friday, March 8 as they welcome Rhode Island to College Station.
