Texas A&M baseball rebounded from Friday’s no-hitter loss with a 23-run doubleheader victory on Saturday night to exact its revenge on No. 1 Tennessee in a rematch of the 2024 MCWS final. Four different Aggies hit multiple home runs in the Maroon and White’s first Southeastern Conference series victory.

Game 1

Following a crushing, 10-0 run-rule defeat on Friday, A&M responded with four home runs en route to its first 9-3 upset victory over Tennessee.

Once hailed as the front runner for the 2025 national championship, the Aggies have seen their season spiral further out of control as once-stellar pitching has been throttled in recent SEC contests, and the bats have gone cold when needed most.

Saturday’s first contest, however, showed that maybe it’s too early to count the Aggies out.

Friday’s no-hitter by the Volunteer pitching staff was an all-time low for the Maroon and White as their quest to find their identity has still been a work in progress. The recurring cycle of dismantling midweek competition to go silent in the weekend series has been a plague not easily shaken in such a tough conference schedule.

These struggles are in part due to key injuries that have hindered the full force of coach Michael Earley’s squad, with the absence of sophomore third baseman Gavin Grahovac and junior left-handed pitcher Shane Sdao alone leaving ripples through the continuity of a team that was just one game short of a national title in 2024.

Sophomore designated hitter Caden Sorrell is a rare returner from injury and has made his way back into action after missing the start of the season due to a pulled hamstring. The former All-SEC Freshman honoree has already hit three home runs in just five games, including a second-inning bomb to awaken the Aggies’ dormant offense. He followed up his second-inning heroics with another shot deep into right field for an insurance run in the seventh.

An extra-base hit machine can be found in sophomore catcher Bear Harrison, a man who has been on a mission since his March 18 offensive revival, when he crushed two home runs in a rout of Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. 

The Saint Mary’s transfer has generated 15 RBIs off of 17 hits since mid-March, including a home run in the fourth inning to even the score for the Aggies. His three-hit day is a testament to what can be done with a change in swing and a boost of confidence.

But the narrative of waiting until things start to click has a short shelf life, as the postseason is just over the horizon. According to D1Baseball, since 1999, there has never been a preseason No. 1 to miss the NCAA Tournament, something the Aggies are in jeopardy of becoming the first to do. 

However, belief is not in short supply for the Maroon and White, especially when junior center fielder Jace LaViolette is playing his best baseball. His 360-foot fifth-inning home run marks his 60th career time going yard, giving his squad a two-run lead off a sizzling 108mph ball.

In competition against such a dynamic offense, though, the Aggies needed more than just a spark from their batting order. A back-and-forth game found its balance in the hands of junior LHP Justin Lamkin, a sturdy veteran known for his ability to maneuver his pitching through traffic. Lamkin delivered in the fifth frame, digging himself out of a bases-loaded situation as Earley allowed him to stay in and right his wrongs.

The moment that switched momentum in favor of the Aggies was an astonishing home run robbery orchestrated by freshman right fielder Terrence Kiel II, stealing the air out of a Tennessee crowd that seemed convinced its team took the lead back. The rookie sensation combined focus and athleticism to reach into the Tennessee bullpen, setting the table for a surge from the Aggies.

With the luxury of a 4-3 lead, A&M cashed in a run thanks to Harrison’s ability to work through the bases after a single. The towering sophomore reached second courtesy of a wild pitch, while a dropped catch allowed him to reach home plate after stealing third base.

Lamkin kept hopes alive for an upset victory in his first 1-2-3 inning in his final frame, though the job was far from over. A&M has a record of 13-3 when leading into the seventh inning, but when trailing, it has yet to overcome the deficit for a come-from-behind win. Additionally, the Aggies have been outscored 9-29 in that span.

Emerging as the go-to stopper for the Fightin’ Farmers is sophomore right-handed pitcher Weston Moss, a growing arm that stepped in on behalf of Lamkin. The Spring native followed his predecessor’s footsteps with a 1-2-3 bottom of the seventh, opening the door for the Aggie offense to finally put an opponent’s chances out of reach.

Now sitting in the driver’s seat, the Aggies combined the efforts of working through at-bats and taking advantage of errant Volunteer throws, plating three runners to get a hold of a 9-3 lead before Harrison’s hit streak stopped at three to end the inning.

Moss wrapped things up in the ninth inning as quickly as he appeared on the mound, surrendering just two hits as A&M hung on to hope that its first SEC series victory would be against the same team that knocked it out of its first national championship. With the Aggies shaking hands outside the dugout, it marked their first true road game victory and their second SEC win of the year.

The Aggies took a brief intermission before Saturday’s doubleheader finale in a rubber match for the series victory.

Game 2

Now with its forces regrouped, A&M aimed to finish the job against the reigning national champions and steer itself straight from the whirlwind of ups and downs that have characterized its 2025 campaign.

Who better to lead the charge than the duo of Sorrell and Harrison, who have been playing second act to LaViolette’s opening performances to this point in the season? Sorrell’s hot bat put a second runner aboard for an awaiting Harrison, hungry to get the cogs churning early in the Aggie RBI machine. A growl of the bat sent a three-run home run into the second level of the Tennessee stands for the bear’s fourth hit of the night.

Putting Harrison’s progress into perspective, the go-to man at catcher has seven home runs in an 11-game stretch while also climbing over .300 in batting average in less than a month. His ability to frame pitches and put stops to wild pitches adds to his ability to be an all-too-necessary jolt of energy to an A&M team that appears to be on the rebound after consistent rough patches.

The Aggies stuck with their lefty Sunday starter in junior LHP Myles Patton to try and capture their first SEC series victory, which paid dividends when the Long Beach State transfer struck out seven Volunteers while conceding just three runs. 

The A&M offense appeared to be a different animal since being shut out in Friday’s contest, responding to its misfortune with 27 hits for 26 runs in the two games played on Saturday. Sorrell and Harrison did the heavy lifting, and with three-plus-hit days, the duo quieted an otherwise rowdy home crowd.

Like in the MCWS finals, the Volunteers didn’t back down easily from the resistance shown by the Aggies. Two singles in the third inning threatened to bring the boiling confidence of the Maroon and White to a simmer, but Earley’s crew was ready to answer the call to action.

Though a pair of runs managed to score, Patton was unshaken with the Aggie defense at his side as Mount Patton was yet to be scaled by the Volunteers.

The long ball continued to be the difference maker as the night carried on, with junior second baseman Ben Royo joining the home run party in the fourth inning. A transfer from Rice, Royo has been batting over .500 since becoming a starter in the Kentucky series earlier in March. His efforts were soon complemented by graduate 3B Wyatt Henseler’s echoing three-run homer, giving the Aggies an 8-2 lead in the fourth inning.

A complete reversal of the previous A&M baseball narrative took place when junior shortstop Kaeden Kent broke through his recent lull in production with a two-run home run, the third of the inning for the Aggies. 

Royo poured gasoline on the Aggies’ offensive fire with his second no-doubt home run in the fifth, nearly depleting the energy fully from the Tennessee crowd. The fire became an inferno when Henseler and Sorrell hit back-to-back long balls, making it four different Aggies with at least two home runs on Saturday.

Patton maintained the possibility of a run-rule victory in his efforts in the fifth while staying in the sixth to hopefully close the door himself. Two quick outs made sure that the Tennessee bats were kept cool, and a final strikeout left the Volunteers with just three outs left to salvage the breakdown.

Facing a run-rule defeat, Tennessee struck fire with a three-run home run, forcing an eighth inning. With an eight-run cushion, the Aggies again answered the bell, putting together an offensive push to get three more runs to spark the hope for a shorter game. 

In his relief efforts, sophomore LHP Kaiden Wilson made amends for his seventh-inning blunder when he retired the side in the eighth, making sure the Aggies sealed their series victory with the sweet taste of revenge.

The Aggies return to action on April 8 for a midweek showdown with Sam Houston State at 6 p.m.