Following a 14-0 run-rule demolition of Prairie View on Tuesday night, No. 19 Texas A&M baseball opened up its Southeastern Conference crusade with a gritty, 6-4 loss to No. 17 Alabama.
The Crimson Tide had to break through the levee that was sizzling junior left-handed pitcher Ryan Prager, who has done nothing but impose his will on opposing batters with his SEC-leading 0.39 ERA for a weekend starter. Look no further than a pair of 1-2-3 innings and four strikeouts in his start.
However, no starter is perfect as Prager had to rebound from conceding a second inning home run. A strong defensive play at home plate out of the hands of junior catcher Jacob Galloway stopped the bleeding with an exclamation point as Prager responded with a batch of zeroes in five of his seven innings. Alabama may have broken through first, but A&M was not too far behind in exploiting the flaws of their opponent’s pitching staff.
Freshman outfielder Terrence Kiel II who first laid down the hammer with a single against sophomore LHP Zane Adams, followed by a walk issued to freshman second baseman Sawyer Farr. If time is money, Adams could be a millionaire, seemingly waiting until the very last second on the pitch clock before each throw. The lack of urgency settled in the Aggie batting order, although they were unable to cash in on their first two base runners.
A Lakers fan could be lucky enough to spot their favorite player’s name in Olsen Field in Friday’s contest, although surely not the one they expected. NCAA home run leader sophomore INF Justin Lebron found his tear limited in his face-off with Prager, going 0-for-4 throughout the game.
Looking for an offensive jumpstart, A&M turned to its own superstar in junior center fielder Jace LaViolette who slipped a scorching double into left field to get junior left fielder Jamal George home for its first run of the night. The Katy native has been in search of history, needing only two more home runs to become the all-time leader in school history.
The rockiness seen in Prager was a sight unfamiliar to the Aggie faithful in quite some time, the crowd used to the seasoned lefty keeping free passes to a minimum and keeping the ball in the zone. What was unsurprising was the relentless effort displayed when picking off a batter and keeping the Aggies’ ship sailing smoothly in a high-pressure battle in the fourth inning.
The story of Kiel’s rise to prominence is one that is exemplified in his lightning quick speed, a tool he utilized in his second hit of the night that brought him all the way to third base in one swing as the momentum shifted in favor of the Fightin’ Farmers. Graduate designated hitter Hayden Schott wasted no time bringing the Atlanta native quickster home, adding further to the resume building for Kiel as more than just a placeholder in the absence of sophomore OF Caden Sorrell.
Another two-run homer damaged the track record for Prager further in the fifth inning, as another walk turned into an extra run, threatening to be the undoing for the Aggies. The Maroon and White offense went down in order in the bottom of the inning, leaving the opportunity for scoring to later frames.
The lead runner getting on base for the Crimson Tide became a consistent narrative that kept Prager pitching through traffic. However, the Aggies’ grit on defense remained a thorn in their adversary’s side, especially when a double play erased further setbacks to the A&M scoring effort in the sixth inning.
“I’m not mad about those home runs, you’re going to get damaged in this league,” Prager said, “but two of those runs were walks. We got to get better and perform to the best of our ability. We got to treat each inning as just one, and we are going to find ways to win.”
Kiel’s third hit slipped through the shallow right field gap and put two runners on for A&M, desperate for a breakthrough. With two outs, coach Mike Earley’s squad would turn again to young talent in Farr. The youngster delivered in Adams’ final pitch of the night with an RBI single into right field, putting the Aggies within one.
“It was super cool to get a taste of what SEC play is like but obviously it’s a hard game to play and I got to slow my heart rate and try and win ball games,” Farr said. “We got to show resilience and try and be better.”
After a pitching change, all eyes were on sophomore C Bear Harrison, pinch hitting for his counterpart Galloway. Nearly forcing a “ball five” chant, Harrison’s strikeout was a welcome sight for the Crimson Tide dugout, though the Aggies were surely glad to tack on a run and force a change on the mound.
Prager’s 104th pitch closed out the top of the seventh scoreless for Alabama, opening the door for junior shortstop Kaeden Kent to get his first hit and put LaViolette in a position to play hero. Another knock into right field initiated another pitching change for the Crimson Tide, though a pair of flyouts kept the score at 4-3.
As Prager’s night finished, redshirt sophomore RHP Luke Jackson’s began. The Lake Travis product answered the bell admirably with two flyouts plus a heater of a throw to retire Lebron for the fourth time.
Some don’t believe in fairy tales and miracles, but in the home of the 12th Man, “Olsen Magic” is the name for moments like Schott’s 104mph home run to tie the game in the eighth inning. Barely sneaking to the right of the foul pole, the 12th Man did what can only be described in what his number stands for: the Spirit of Aggieland.
Jackson torched through the first batter of the ninth with deadly precision, tasking sophomore LHP Kaiden Wilson and senior RHP Brad Rudis to hopefully finish the job. A grounder took care of Wilson’s lone opponent, though Rudis’s first two pitches gave the Crimson Tide a 6-4 lead at the top of the ninth.
“All these pitchers will be good to go for the rest of the weekend,” Earley said. “But it goes to show how small the margins are in SEC play. It only gets more difficult.”
On a quest to replicate Schott’s heroics, the top of the Aggie batting order was due up to seize a chance of victory. The action started when Kent was hit by a pitch followed by LaViolette going up to the plate one last time. The joyous roar of 6,917 Aggies rang in the confines of Olsen Field as a full-count walk put two runners on with no outs, but as if written too soon, a double play put the Maroon and White one pitch away from dropping their first conference matchup.
Kiel, the last hope for A&M, faced a 1-2 count in his fifth at-bat while two runners were on the corners, on the cusp of being driven in with a timely swing. An exercise in futility, however, as a groundout to shallow center closed the game with a 6-4 decision in Alabama’s favor.
“Despite the outcome, I’m pleased with how Kiel played,” Earley said. “He did amazing but it’s a rough night for sure. We got to come out and perform and give it our best tomorrow.”
The Aggies return to action with a 2 p.m. contest against Alabama on March 15.
