Texas A&M baseball survived another day of the Southeastern Conference Tournament after a 3-2 win over the Auburn Tigers in the second round. After a less-than-ideal season, the Aggies are fighting through the tournament in hopes of a championship run after falling from No. 1 to unranked in the blink of an eye.
“We’re gonna keep playing until they tell us to stop,” coach Michael Earley said.
After a dominant shutout against Georgia in the last regular season series, junior left-handed pitcher Justin Lamkin was awarded SEC Pitcher of the Week and did not shy away from Auburn’s powerful offense.
Lamkin had an incredible outing against the Tigers, throwing five innings during which he recorded five strikeouts, only giving up one earned run in the bottom of the fifth — a solo shot from Auburn’s junior shortstop Eric Snow.
A three-run home run from junior shortstop Kaeden Kent started the momentum for the Aggies,putting them in front 3-0. The sequence started with a base hit from freshman right fielder Terrence Kiel II, followed by a walk for freshman left fielder Sawyer Farr after being struck by a pitch, sending it back to the top of the lineup for Kent to do some damage.
“I’ve learned so much from the guys in our lineup,” Kent said. “Just because they are amazing hitters, they’re amazing players and we can, you know, learn from each other, bounce ideas off of each other.”
A contributing factor to A&M’s rocky season has been multiple injuries to key players like sophomore third baseman Gavin Grahovac and sophomore right fielder Caden Sorrell who have been in and out all season.
In the fifth inning, the Aggie dugout was silenced after A&M’s all-time home run leader, junior center fielder Jace LaViolette exited the game after a pitch struck his hand.
The projected first rounder in the 2025 MLB Draft was seen alongside his teammates in the dugout later on with a cast around his arm. It was later confirmed by Earley in the post-game press conference that he broke his hand and would miss the rest of the tournament.
“It’s real easy with the guys we have in the locker room, I feel terrible for Jace and the team, but mostly for him,” Earley said about moving forward without LaViolette. “… There’s no shortage of care in that locker room or belief and a lot of guys that love playing with this team in this university.”
After a solo shot from Snow late in the fifth, Earley headed to the bullpen to bring in none other than sophomore right-handed pitcher Weston Moss, who threw 2 ⅓ innings, giving up two hits and recording one punch out.
After putting two on, sophomore LHP Kaiden Wilson stepped on the mound to relieve the Aggies, before giving up a one-out, solo-home run to junior designated hitter Lucas Steele. Sophomore RHP Clayton Freshcorn finally finished the job in two pitches, recording his second save of the season.
With A&M’s second win in Hoover, Alabama, they will face LSU on Friday, with first pitch slated at 7:30 p.m.