No. 3 Texas A&M baseball secured the rubber match in its road weekend series against Auburn by a final score of 12-9 to take the series and move to 18-2 on the season. The Aggies (17-2) fed off an offensive outburst in the fourth inning to fuel another high scoring game.

A&M got on the board first by scoring in the first inning, doing so on a full-count leadoff homer to give starting pitcher Kyle Simonds an early cushion. But after two quiet innings from the Tigers, Auburn center fielder Anfernee Grier hit a three-run homer to give the team a 3-1 lead in the third.

The top of the fourth for A&M featured eight hits from the Aggies, plating eight runs and allowing A&M to jump out to a 9-3 lead. But Auburn continued to work its way into the game, scoring two runs in the fifth and sixth innings off a struggling Simonds and reliever Cason Sherrod.

Auburn’s best opportunity to take the game from A&M came in the bottom of the eighth, when third baseman Kyler Deese hit a two-run double down the right field line.

The double brought A&M’s lead down to three with one out, but Deese was thrown out trying to extend the double to a triple and Sherrod got a strikeout to end the inning.

The Aggies were then able to keep the game out of reach, feeding off of a three-RBI game from senior left fielder J.B. Moss and senior third baseman Boomer White and another double-digit hit game in the series. Moss ended the weekend going 7-for-15 at the plate with 7 RBI.

Kyle Simonds, A&M’s starting pitcher, struggled to maintain the lead and was inconsistent on the mound at times. He still got the win, however, and ended the game by putting in five and a third innings and giving up seven earned runs on eight hits.
The Aggies will return home for a matchup with A&M-Corpus Christi before they begin a weekend series against LSU at Olsen Field. Tuesday’s game against A&M-Corpus is set to begin at 6:30 Tuesday night.