It’s been said before that revenge does wonders for the will to live, but in the case of No. 7 Texas A&M baseball, payback was a tall order — especially after No. 8 Auburn outscored the Aggies 23-9 in a doubleheader sweep the day prior.
Head coach Michael Earley’s unit, however, was not deterred in its quest to salvage the series against its Southeastern Conference rivals, getting back on track and mostly breezing through a 4-3 win on Sunday, May 3.
The key word, of course, being “mostly,” as no contest is truly over until the last out.
So naturally, stories of defied odds always have to start somewhere. Thanks to a junior third baseman Gavin Grahovac leadoff double, the Maroon and White drew first blood at the bottom of the first following a 1-2-3 inning engineered by junior right-handed pitcher Weston Moss.
But baseball is a war of multiple theatres, and battling pitching and hitting are just two of the fronts every squad has to wage its attack on should victory be achieved. What is often forgotten, however, is the impact of injuries at any point of the season.
The Aggies watched as star freshman third baseman Nico Partida crouched down for a grounder and appeared to pull his groin in Friday’s chaotic doubleheader and will now proceed without the SEC Freshman of the Year-hopeful for an indefinite amount of time. Even so, time is a strange thing, bringing surprises around every corner.
The surprise this time? A&M’s pitching. After being harassed through the first four innings of each game of their doubleheader and surrendering 16 runs in that span, Moss amazed through six frames, tallying six strikeouts and a quartet of three-up, three-down occasions to keep the Fightin’ Farmers, well, fighting.
And as Memphis rapper Big Moochie Grape proclaimed in his 2020 mixtape, it’s a “eat or get ate” world out there in the South. While perhaps not grammatically correct, the same can be said in the SEC, as teams are scrambling to secure a regional bid and the chance to host a super regional should they survive their hosting opportunity.
Such a sentiment was evidently taken to mind by Grahovac, who flawlessly transitioned back to the hot corner of the diamond in Partida’s stead, snatching grounders with ease at his old position. But the California kid wasn’t the only one keen on extending the Aggies’ lead.
With freshman shortstop Boston Kellner and junior center fielder Caden Sorrell knocking a single through gaps in both shallow left and right field, junior designated hitter Chris Hacopian grabbed his fourth RBI of the game off a 410-foot cannon shot into left field, where there was no doubt of the baseball meeting its 102 mph grave into Aggie Alley.
“I’ve been banged up a lot this year, but it’s good to be able to trot around the bases like that after a big home run,” Hacopian said. “We got guys who will fight and we got to step up no matter where we are in the lineup.”
The home run pitch ended more than A&M’s four-inning scoreless streak, it also ushered in the close of sophomore RHP Alex Petrovic’s otherwise terrific 92-pitch start. With the potential loss tied to his name, the Tigers turned to freshman RHP LJ Cormier to limit the damage, which he did the hard way with two walks before his defense stepped up to end the frame with a 4-0 Aggies advantage.
It wasn’t until the seventh inning that Auburn finally broke up Moss’s hitless campaign and Earley elected to look to the bullpen after his 76-pitch effort. While the Tigers must have been internally cheering at the fact that he was exiting the game, the 12th Man faithful made an outward expression, as a standing ovation had Moss raise his cap in the air in solidarity with the rousing yells.
“It’s been a really up and down year so far,” Moss said. “But I feel like God has humbled me to appreciate the things that I have and what I have to do, and I feel like I deserved [the standing ovation].”
Freshman right fielder Mason McCraine’s double came home for the Tigers’ first run of the afternoon but with star closer junior RHP Clayton Freshcorn coming in, the Aggies scooted out of the seventh hanging onto a 4-1 lead.
The eighth followed a similar script, but it was in the ninth that things got dicey for the Waller native. A trio of singles got the top of the War Eagle batting order to the plate, the last of which scored the second Auburn run and put it a swing away from the lead.
While the burying swing never took place to rob the breath from the crowd of 6,818 at Olsen Field, it wouldn’t have been a use anyway, since every fan was holding it as Freshcorn nearly had the brakes snap off completely with five hits from a surging Auburn that resulted in a 4-3, one-run game.
With the bases loaded and just one out so far, Freshcorn got help from the pitcher’s best friend — an inning-sealing double play. As his 11th save of the season, he is now tied for the fifth-most in a single season in Aggie history.
A&M will return to action for its last nonconference game of the regular season, as Prairie View comes to town for a Tuesday, May 5, matchup at 6 p.m.
