When Braden Montgomery transferred to Texas A&M from Stanford last year, the expectations for the junior RF and RHP were through the roof.
After a 2023 with the Cardinal where he slashed .336/.461/.611 with 17 home runs and 61 RBIs, Montgomery hit the transfer portal and headed to Aggieland. Prior to the beginning of this season, he was named Preseason All-SEC Second Team.
And so far this season, Montgomery has done nothing but live up to the hype.
With a sold-out crowd at Bobcat Ballpark on Tuesday night, he launched his 16th homer and drove in four RBIs, which currently leads the SEC. He is also second in the SEC in home runs, with only Georgia sophomore Charlie Condon in front with 19.
Montgomery and the Aggie offense were simply too much for the Bobcats, as they only needed seven innings to knock off Texas State 12-2.
An ongoing theme this season for the Maroon and White has been striking first, and this game was no different. Montgomery’s two-run homer was blasted to left field, and graduate DH Hayden Schott had an RBI double to give No. 3 A&M an early 3-0 lead.
Another player who had a fantastic game with his bat was freshman 3B Gavin Grahovac, as he collected three hits in four at-bats, including a double and two RBIs. The Orange, California native is now tied for ninth in doubles in the SEC.
Five players for A&M had multiple hits, and the team has now scored double-digit runs in 13 of the 29 games it has played this season.
The Aggies made sure not to let their foot off the gas in this matchup. The team scored in five of seven frames in the game.
Senior RHP Tony Robie, the starter for the Bobcats, lasted just three innings, where he allowed four earned runs and seven hits. Texas State used seven pitchers total in this game, and only two of them did not allow a run.
In addition, the Aggies had a nice performance from their pitching staff. The staff allowed only two runs all night, with one of them being unearned. They also racked up six strikeouts and allowed only three hits over the seven innings. The team is second in the SEC in total strikeouts and ERA, trailing only No. 1 Arkansas.
Coach Jim Schlossnagle went with a bullpen game in tonight’s affair, as redshirt freshman RHP Luke Jackson started this game but only threw 2.1 innings. Jackson faced 11 batters and allowed one run but struck out none.
Senior RHP Brock Peery collected the final five outs for the Maroon and White, and he struck out the side in the bottom of the seventh to give A&M a hard-fought 12-2 rout.
With the victory, A&M is now the first team in the SEC to 26 wins, and the team currently has the best overall record within the conference. It remains undefeated in midweek play as well.
Up next, the Aggies will be traveling to Columbia, South Carolina to face the No. 22 Gamecocks for a three-game series. The first pitch of this set will be on Friday, April 5 at 6 p.m.
