With two outs in the bottom of the ninth and the Aggies down two, sophomore designated hitter Hunter Coleman launched a ball to left center with a runner on.
The ball hit about a foot below the edge of the wall, giving Coleman an RBI double instead of the game-tying home run. Sophomore left fielder Logan foster would then strikeout to end the game and give No. 5 Ole Miss the 7-6 win and the series win.
All three games in the series were decided by one run, with Ole Miss winning 5-4 on Thursday, the Aggies winning 7-6 on Friday, and the Rebels taking the one run victory on Saturday.
“Really proud of the way we competed,” head coach Rob Childress said. “This is a heartbreaking game and we’re playing a really good Ole Miss team. You look up at the scoreboard and you think, well gosh, Texas A&M led it get away from them, but we had opportunities to break the game open, and we don’t cash in.”
The game was back and forth all nine innings, but the Aggies jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the third inning thanks to one run in the first two innings, and two runs in the third inning. The Aggies would hold on to the lead until Ole Miss scored two in the fourth and two in the fifth to take a 5-4 lead.
A&M would tie it up in the bottom of the fifth thanks to an RBI single before the Rebels regained the lead in the seventh when they scored two runs. The Aggies battled in the ninth, with Coleman narrowly missing a game-tying home run, but couldn’t get the job done.
“I thought, especially with the wind today, that that ball had a chance to get out,” Coleman said. “It would’ve been a big time home run, but it hit the top of the wall. It was just one of those days, it’s a game of inches.”
The Aggie offense was led by sophomore Coleman, Foster, and freshman center fielder Zach DeLoach. Coleman went 3-5 on the day with 2 RBIs, Foster also went 3-5 with two RBIs, and DeLoach also went 3-5 with a run scored.
The Ole Miss offense was led by center fielder Will Golsan, third baseman Tyler Keenan, and first baseman Cole Zabowski. Golsan went 3-5 with two RBIs, Keenan 3-4 with a home run and two RBIs, and Zabowski went 2-5 with two RBIs.
“Tomorrow’s an off day, we’ll look back on today and see what we need to work on,” junior catcher Cole Bedford said. “I thought we played pretty good baseball, it’s just the SEC. It’s a tough division and every play matters. We made a couple of mistakes today and we’ll just get back to work and get readyd for Tuesday.”
The Aggies will be back in action on Tuesday as they travel south to face Texas A&M – Corpus Christi. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. at Whataburger Field.