After rattling off seven straight victories to begin the 2026 season, No. 23 Texas A&M baseball more than doubled its weekend run total in a 25-5 run-rule thrashing of Lamar. The Aggies hammered five home runs as every Maroon and White starter crossed home plate at least once.
Making his second start in as many midweek games this season, sophomore right-handed pitcher Gavin Lyons took to the mound for the Aggies, dealing swift justice to the Cardinals in the first inning. A first-pitch swing by senior second baseman Beau Durbin ended with the Lamar RBI-leader grounding out, a fate he shared with senior center fielder Tab Tracy after a Lyons strikeout, bringing A&M up to bat in the first.
The Aggies went all weekend against Penn without issuing a free pass, though the same could not be said for the Quakers. In Sunday’s 7-1 victory, sophomore left fielder Terrence Kiel II was both walked and hit by a pitch, and he was eager to replicate the feat against Lamar. The speedy Atlantan worked a lead-off walk into a stolen base, just before junior first baseman Gavin Grahovac lost an 11-pitch battle to a strikeout and freshman third baseman Nico Partida was walked.
A justified fear seemed to linger over the mitt of senior left-handed pitcher Gage Burdick, who was continually pitching to second base, mindful of the impressive quickness Kiel possessed. The fear became realized not long after, as a balk advanced both Aggie runners, and back-to-back wild pitches scored A&M’s first two runs.
But like an anniversary meal, there’s always more than one course with the Maroon and White offense. Senior designated hitter Jake Duer served up a timely hit and split the gap in shallow left field, bringing freshman shortstop Boston Kellner to the plate, hungry for dessert.
Kellner, the Aggies’ doubles leader, wasted no time on a 1-1 count, sending a rainbow, 41-degree shot 400 feet deep into left field for a 4-0 A&M lead. A new server was needed as Burdick’s 22.50 ERA continued to balloon and senior RHP Joshua Shimmin arrived in relief. The first-inning feast came to an end after graduate student CF Travis Chestnut was walked on four pitches and junior catcher Bear Harrison grounded out.
With a comfortable lead, the Aggies got back to the basics, which have led to their undefeated start, beginning with quality at-bats. Strike discipline had been a point of emphasis for head coach Michael Earley after three total runs in the first two games versus Penn, and A&M was ready to right its wrongs.
“The plate discipline was elite,” Earley said. “All at-bats matter and we just do what we’ve been doing all year and control the strike zone. Getting up to the plate can really shake you up but when you control your heart rate, good things happen.”
Five walks in just the first two innings, the Maroon and White were finally swinging at the pitches they needed to, and laying off those more ill-advised. Embodying the revised sense of understanding at the plate, junior right fielder Caden Sorrell obliterated a 2-1 count 452 feet over the batter’s eye for the Aggies’ 6-0 advantage.
And as if things couldn’t get any worse for Lamar, two back-to-back hit-by-pitches put Duer in position to clear the bases, which he did with a double and E4 that left the former Florida Atlantic star on third base. When the dust settled for the Cardinals, they had allowed nine free passes and nine runs in just two innings and were on the verge of a run-rule defeat.
Lyons broke the Aggies’ three-game streak without issuing a walk, getting junior C Jake Wagoner aboard without a swing. Even so, it did not deter the righty from closing out the third inning thanks to an acrobatic grab by Kiel for the final out.
But despite issuing their eighth walk in the third inning, the Cardinals managed to come out of it unscathed, though still down, 9-0. The deficit was not enough to keep Lamar from fighting back, as senior LF Brayden Evans delivered a home run into his own bullpen, followed by a Tracy single with no outs. Two quick flyouts followed Tracy’s hit, but when a two-run homer by senior 1B Reese Beheler cut deeper into the lead, Lyons struck out a third batter to stop the bleeding, 9-3.
The ninth walk for the Aggies came back to bite the Cardinals once again when Chestnut paired a double with an E7 as Kellner crossed home plate. Harrison was issued the 10th walk of the night, and both sophomore 2B Sawyer Farr and Kiel got base hits to load the bases with no outs, setting the table once again for Sorrell.
And with another gargantuan swing, the projected top-10 MLB Draft prospect demonstrated once more why he has garnered such attention, sending a 2-2 pitch 388 feet over the Lamar bullpen and wiping the bases clean. A trip to the fridge or walking the dog could fool one into thinking nothing happened since then, as Grahovac and Partida left the bases as quickly as they arrived and plated the Aggies’ eighth run in the frame.
Perhaps to no surprise, the inning was still not over after a grand slam, six hits and a carousel of Lamar pitchers. Chestnut went yard for the first time since his return to Aggieland with a 354-foot home run to left field, followed by four straight hits and three more RBIs. Those remaining in Section 203 began cheering on the Cardinals’ pitching staff, seemingly hopeful to bring a swift end to a contest spanning over two hours through the first four innings.
“Two fastballs and then I saw what I was looking for,” Chestnut said. “When I’m playing, my goal is to get on base any way possible, whether it’s a walk, home run or whatever.”
At the end of the fourth, A&M led Lamar 21-3, squarely in position to notch their second run-rule victory. The Cardinals plated another run at the top of the fifth, but, following the game’s narrative, it too was not enough. Pinch hitters and walks got redshirt junior pinch hitter Blake Binderup up to bat, where he knocked a 382-footer over the fences for the fifth Aggie homer.
Six different Maroon and White sluggers had multi-hit games and by the top of the sixth inning, they were winning 24-4 and subbing players by the masses. Those who lingered around Olsen Field were granted front row seats to senior DH Blake LaBuda’s first RBI as an Aggie and one last scoreless inning for the Cardinals, ending their 25-5 spiral in seven innings.
A&M will leave the confines of Aggieland for the first time this season as it partakes in the Amegy Bank College Baseball Series at Globe Life Field, first squaring off with Virginia Tech on Friday, Feb. 27, at 7 p.m.
