After a commanding 7-4 win over No. 2 Arkansas in Game 1 of Friday’s weather-affected doubleheader, Texas A&M baseball redeemed its first 11-5 loss to No. 2 Arkansas with a 9-2 victory to capture its third-straight Southeastern Conference series on the road in Fayetteville, Arkansas. 

Game 1

The Aggies’ offensive surge has been paramount to their recent success against SEC opponents, something perfectly personified in junior center fielder Jace LaViolette’s first-inning two-run home run. With a RBI single from junior shortstop Kaeden Kent extending the lead to 3-0, momentum was in the gloves of the Maroon and White.

LaViolette’s go-ahead swing marked the 63rd time the Katy native has gone yard, powering his way to being the NCAA’s active leader in home runs. However, graduate third baseman Wyatt Henseler’s second-inning solo home run shot ensured LaViolette did not get the Aggies’ celebratory golden putter all to himself, matching his career total.

But in such a dominant conference, such feats are greatly overshadowed by the game’s outcome, win or lose. So the Razorbacks, hungry to rebound from Thursday’s loss, pushed around junior left-handed pitcher Justin Lamkin to steal a pair of runs and signal to the Aggies that they were in for a hogfight. 

Soon, the signal’s omen became reality as back-and-forth exchanges of home runs would even the score 4-4, with the game seemingly boiling, awaiting a spark from either team to create an avalanche of runs. 

Two innings looked to be the difference makers for the Fightin’ Farmers, each of them with two runners and just one out. Luck wouldn’t be easy to come by, however, with both the fourth and fifth innings suffering the same fate of quick flyouts to doom the Aggies’ retaking the lead.

Instead, Arkansas preyed on rough pitching by A&M, notching nine hits and seven earned runs off of Lamkin. The fifth inning featured the Razorback bats taking their first lead of the game, 5-4, and looking to add to it, with the bases loaded and no outs. 

When the dust had settled, the Fayetteville faithful watched their hometown Hogs slam in six runs in the fifth inning to earn a staggering 11-4 lead, leaving it up to the Aggies to show the SEC why they have become one of the hottest teams in the country in recent weeks. 

The deadly combination of redshirt junior LHP Ryan Prager and sophomore RHP Weston Moss has been a complement to the rejuvenated Aggie offense, but without a dominant duo in the following two weekend rotations, conference victories were going to be difficult to steal from national championship contender Arkansas.

Capturing the spirit of the Aggies’ fight was found in redshirt sophomore first baseman Blake Binderup, a player who’s rapidly becoming a key piece in the starting lineup. Taking advantage of the absence of senior 1B Gavin Kash, Binderup has played at his best in recent competition, including a solo home run in the eighth inning to breathe some life into the A&M dugout.

Trailing 11-5 and down to their final three outs, the Fightin’ Farmers saw their chances of a nine-game win streak dwindle, giving coach Michael Earley the choice to save his most prominent closers for game two of Friday’s doubleheader. 

And unlike in April 12’s miraculous 10-run comeback victory over South Carolina, A&M could not put together some ‘Olsen Magic’ away from College Station and steal the series in the bottom of the ninth. 

But even in a slip in their winning streak, the Maroon and White showed promise that a new leaf truly has been turned. Ten hits across nine innings of work displayed the heartbeat the Aggies maintained on offense, but with eight runners left on base, the juice needed to get all-too-necessary runs ran dry for the first time in eight games.

With the series tied at one apiece, the Aggies entered the intermission with hopes of toppling another highly-ranked opponent on the road and put A&M baseball back into the national spotlight.

Game 2

Ready to right their wrongs, the Aggies had LaViolette strike the Baum-Walker Stadium crowd dizzy with deja vu as his first at-bat was reminiscent of Friday’s first contest: a deep arching homer. With his 64th dinger, the colossal center fielder found himself alone again as college baseball’s active career home run leader.

Free to use all its resources to seize victory, A&M had its last lefty starter take the mound in junior LHP Myles Patton. A transfer from Long Beach State, Patton had the tall task of facing Arkansas’ monster batting order and buying time for the bats to come alive once more. 

After surrendering 17 combined runs in his last four starts, the junior southpaw seemed to find his groove early with seven strikeouts. A 1-0 advantage is rarely safe territory against a top-five national opponent, and the expertise of a veteran starter on the mound can only contain a hungry Razorback offense for so long. Therefore, the Maroon and White needed to keep their foot on the gas.

Patton’s methodical approach earned him two scoreless innings, but with most of the Arkansas batting order hitting over .300, the A&M foothold would not last into the third. With the game tied, 1-1 heading into the fourth, the Aggies were still searching for the signature inning to recreate Thursday night’s magic.

But time and time again, both the Fightin’ Farmers and the Hogs found themselves victims of the strikeout to end their inning, forcing a war of attrition deep into the Fayetteville night. Long at-bats and solid pitching quickly became the norm through five innings, but without a clear leader in the battle for the series, it seemed more and more likely that the game would go down to the wire

So, when all seemed locked in a stalemate, who better to break the tie than the one who started the scoring in two straight contests? Thanks to a base hit from the speedster freshman left fielder Terrence Kiel II, LaViolette stared down a 1-1 count and blasted his 65th career home run into left field, stealing the lead back for A&M, 3-1.

With renewed confidence, Earley had the luxury of managing the bullpen with a two-run lead. The choice of leaving Patton to face the heart of the order could have come back to bite the Maroon and White, especially when two Razorback runners made their way on base with zero outs. 

Luckily for the Aggies, the exceptional relief effort of redshirt sophomore RHP Luke Jackson and a sensational grab from Kent combined to maintain a one-run advantage for Earley and Co. However, each Arkansas at-bat kept a sense of impending doom that any swing could take the game away in the blink of an eye.

Jackson calmed some worries with his third strikeout in a 1-2-3 inning, but right as the Aggies seemed to jump into the driver’s seat, the glow of lightning in the Arkansas sky brought a rain delay with the grumbling bellows of fans and thunder alike. 

When action resumed, A&M’s bats made sure the thunder did not completely subside. Having gone 0-for-10 on the weekend, junior second baseman Ben Royo was prepared to shrug off his recent slump. On a 3-1 count, the Rice transfer blasted his sixth home run of the year, 107 mph through the heart of left center field. 

The rising efficiency of junior left fielder Jamal George became a key proponent in the Aggies’ win streak, and with his absence in Game 1 of the doubleheader, a void was surely felt in a beatdown. His double following Royo’s homer turned into another insurance run, and after a slurry of intentional walks and pitching changes, A&M held a 6-2 lead going into the bottom of the seventh.

The hot-handed Jackson returned to the mound after a long rain-delayed rest, but the cool drops of water only seemed to increase his resolve and vision. Another 1-2-3 slice through the order kept the Lake Travis product dealing as he showcased exactly what he is capable of.

This contest of longtime rivals was far from over, however. Facing their last six outs, the robust Hog batting order was ready to battle through the rain and keep their 13-game home SEC series winning streak alive. To their dismay, Jackson would not be deterred in such high stakes, weathering a pair of base runners with perhaps the most potent strikeout of his young career.

The final three outs were delegated to sophomore LHP Kaiden Wilson, only the eighth pitcher the Aggies used through three games. He held down the fort admirably, striking out Arkansas’ final batter for A&M’s first series victory in Fayetteville since 2016.

A&M’s no-hit loss to Tennessee on April 4 has since erupted on offense in its recent 9-1 run, tallying a staggering 112 runs in that span. Between stout two-pitcher combos and a concrete batting order, the Aggies have reemerged as an underdog contender to make a deep push into the postseason.

With their 9-2 win, the Aggies have now won two straight road series, both of which against teams ranked in the top two in the nation.

The Aggies return to Olsen Field for a midweek rematch with the Sam Houston Bearkats on April 22 at 6 p.m.