Nashville, Tenn., played host to Texas A&M’s 2,500th baseball victory in program history as the Aggies claimed two of three wins in a weekend series against the No. 7 Vanderbilt Commodores.
With a 10-4 Friday victory, the Aggies became the first program in SEC history to reach the 2,500-win plateau.
Twenty-three total runs were scored in the series for A&M at Hawkins Field as the team provided Vanderbilt its first home series loss since 2012 against South Carolina.
Krey Bratsen provided three of the eight A&M hits in the rubber match Sunday, driving in two runs and scoring two more in the 8-2 victory credited to sophomore pitcher Grayson Long. Bratsen went a perfect 3-for-3 on the day including a walk, two doubles and two stolen bases.
Cole Lankford chipped in with two of his own runs batted in on a pair of sacrifice flies. Catcher Troy Stein aided in the victory with a 2-of-4 day, which included two runs scored.
Long scattered 11 hits across 7.2 innings, but allowed just two runs in the effort. In his 121-pitch performance, 75 were strikes and he allowed just one extra base hit – a double to Commodore outfielder Rhett Wiseman. The win improves him to 4-1 overall on the season.
Jason Jester was on the mound as A&M’s Friday starter, searching for the first outs of a ballgame rather than his regular role of closer.
The senior went four innings in his first career start, allowing three runs (two earned) while striking out four of the 20 batters he faced. Parker Ray (4-2) pitched the remaining five innings of the game, earning the win behind his 10-strikeout performance.
Freshman Nick Banks went 5-for-12 on the weekend, improving his batting average to .323.
Five A&M pitchers saw work on Saturday in the 8-5 loss. Cole Lankford was responsible for the bulk of the offense, going 2-for-4 with three RBIs and one run scored.
Vanderbilt (27-10, 7-8 SEC) utilized starting pitcher Jared Miller for four innings, followed by Brian Miller for the remaining five in the Commodore victory.
Daniel Mengden was the Saturday starter for A&M but managed just three innings before being removed from the game. Mengden’s record dropped to 2-5 in a performance that yielded six runs off eight hits, walking two and striking out three.
Ty Schlottman allowed the other two runs scored Saturday during his 3.1 innings of work. Jason Freeman, Andrew Vinson and Corey Ray each saw action from the mound.
A&M (22-15, 7-8 SEC) will prepare for a matchup with Abilene Christian on Wednesday. First pitch at Blue Bell Park is slated for 6:35 p.m. Wednesday’s mid-week matchup is the first of four straight at home.
The Aggies will continue their SEC schedule on Friday against No. 19 Kentucky.