Texas A&M baseball headed to Knoxville, Tennessee, to face the No. 1 team in the country, the Tennessee Volunteers. The two programs battled for the College World Series title last season, with Tennessee winning in three games, breaking the Aggies’ hearts.
After a disappointing 1-8 start in the highly competitive Southeastern Conference, the Aggies dropped the first game of the series 10-0 with no hits, the first no-hitter in SEC play since former Vanderbilt right-handed pitcher Jack Leiter threw a no-hitter against South Carolina in 2021.
The name of the game for the Vols was junior first baseman Andrew Fischer, a transfer from Ole Miss. Fischer sent one deep over the right field fence to put Tennessee on the board, and it seemed to have sparked something in the offense.
Coach Michael Earley started redshirt junior LHP Ryan Prager on the mound, and he struggled, giving up nine hits and only recording four strikeouts. On the other side, the Volunteers started junior LHP Liam Doyle, who left the Aggies hitless and struck them out eight times.
The Aggie defense got into a bit of a bind in the bottom of the third, committing a crucial error on what would have been an inning-ending out that allowed another at-bat for the Vols. Fischer was up to the plate and hit an identical home run to the one he had in the second, increasing Tennessee’s lead to 4-0.
Although A&M went hitless this game, it had a couple of late baserunners on in the fourth but could not execute. Sophomore designated player Caden Sorrell worked Doyle on the mound and walked, one of two that Doyle gave up. Immediately after, sophomore catcher Bear Harrison was nailed by a pitch, giving the Aggies two baserunners. But they were unable to drive anyone home.
The homerun heroes of Tennessee continued to go deep with a shot to right field from sophomore third baseman Dean Curley. Up 5-0, the Volunteers had a heyday, scoring five runs in the sixth, all of which came with two outs. After giving up five runs, all off of homers, Prager was pulled and replaced by freshman LHP Caden McCoy.
A single, wild pitch and a walk later, Tennessee drove in two more runs off of two base hits. The Volunteers were second in the league in home runs with 74, fittingly since they hit four tonight alone. To cap off the run-rule victory, redshirt senior center fielder Hunter Ensley cleared the bases with a three-run homerun, leaving the Aggies with only three outs to extend the game.
A 1-2-3 inning for the Aggies ended the game, for what the 12th Man would say was a complete and utter disappointment. From national championship runner-ups to 1-9 in the SEC, it’s safe to say that this program has some kinks that need to be sorted out.
The Aggies are back in action in Knoxville, Tennessee, on Saturday, April 5, at 2:00 p.m. for a doubleheader.
