Despite an impressive run that landed the Texas A&M baseball team in the SEC Tournament semifinals, the Aggies were unable to continue their run, falling 9-0 to Florida.
Florida retaliated against A&M after Thursday’s 10-0 run-rule. The Gators’ pitching staff left the SEC West champion’s offense scoreless. Florida’s sophomore lefty Timmy Manning and freshman righty Fisher Jameson combined to pitch the nine innings, recording 10 Ks and only walking one batter.
“We have work to do,” coach Jim Schlossnagle said. “We need to get better. We had a good regular season, no question about it. We won two of three ballgames this weekend, but winning two of three doesn’t help you next weekend. The weekend after it does.”
A&M’s freshman-only pitching staff, lefty Ryan Prager, righty Robert Hogan, righty Jack Hamilton and righty Brad Rudis, only threw three strikeouts total and walked six.
”Everybody that pitched in the game today is technically a freshman,” Schlossnagle said. “They got experience. Hopefully, that will give them a better chance to have success next week.”
The bats were hot for the Gators, as they scored at least one run in seven out of nine innings.
Florida kicked things off with one run scored in the second and third, credit to a home run and sacrifice fly.
The Gators tacked on two more in the fourth with a two-RBI single from sophomore catcher Mac Guscette that upped their lead to 4-0.
Things were not looking in favor of the Aggies, even though they had come back from larger deficits before. Florida remained resilient, adding another run in the fifth and two more in the sixth. The Aggies could not get anything going.
The orange and blue added two final runs in the seventh and ninth to complete the shutout and advance to the SEC Tournament championship game where they will face the winner of Tennessee and Kentucky.
The Aggies’ season now lies in the hands of the NCAA Tournament selection committee, who will decide on Monday, May 30 at 11 a.m. if A&M has earned a top-eight seed and an opportunity to host a regional tournament in College Station. The announcement will be streamed on ESPN2.
”At this time of year, it’s finding the balance of getting to work. You need and making sure you’re rested and ready for a regional,” Schlossnagle said.
