Texas A&M baseball fell 12-7 to No. 11 Ole Miss on Saturday, May 8, at Olsen Field at Blue Bell Park to fall to 26-23 overall on the season and 6-17 in SEC play.
The Aggies struck first in the game, establishing a 2-0 lead that held until the top of the fifth inning when Ole Miss brought in two runs of its own. From there, the Rebels continued the scoring momentum, batting in three runs in the sixth and seven runs in the seventh.
“[The bullpen] wasn’t good at all today,” A&M coach Rob Childress said. “It was certainly a disappointment. And it was an amazing game for five innings. [Junior pitcher] Chris Weber couldn’t have pitched any better, I just felt like that last at-bat to get off the field in the fifth inning took a lot out of him. “
A&M attempted to fire back in the bottom of the seventh but was held to just three runs, setting the score at 12-5.
In the inning, senior first baseman Will Frizzell hit his third home run of the series and 16th of the season, tying him for third in the country. Frizzell hit 3-of-4 on the day with two RBIs and a walk.
Senior second baseman Logan Sartori posted a two-run home run in the seventh for his first of the season and third in his collegiate career.
“It felt really good to get a good swing,” Sartori said. “I was on [Ole Miss pitcher] Nikhazy all game. The wind helped me a little bit but it got out.”
Weber received the day’s start and pitched through five innings with two strikeouts, two walks and two runs allowed. Following his stint on the mound, four other A&M pitchers faced batters.
“Throughout the game I had a little bit of trouble with the changeup and the curveball,” Weber said. “My main secondary pitch, the slider I was working with most of the game, came back to bite me a little bit with the leadoff walk and the hit off the wall. It turned out to be the difference of the outing.”
Graduate Chris Farrell closed the game, working through 2.2 innings with five strikeouts while walking one batter and allowing one run.
“I thought Chris Farrell got it back together for the last two innings and was pretty good but it’s too late” Childress said. “The game is over at that point and a great start out of Chris Weber was wasted.”
Tied in the series 1-1, A&M will host Ole Miss on Sunday, May 9, to decide the winner of the series. The game will begin at 1 p.m.
“[Ole Miss has] used all their bullpen pieces so they don’t have much left,” Sartori said. “Once we get through their starter tomorrow its going to be a hayday for us.”