Texas A&M Baseball: Aggies drop in polls after 2-2 week

Texas A&M Baseball (34-14) took one from No.1 Florida. The Aggies now travel to face No. 7 and SEC West leader Arkansas where first place is up for grabs.

After dropping the series to Florida over the weekend, Texas A&M’s baseball team saw their rankings decrease, which means their chance of hosting is basically on the line this weekend in Fayetteville.

In the midweek contest, Texas A&M welcomed the boys from Prairie View. Asa Lacy got the start and pitched well in his two innings. He struck out four while giving up only two hits. From there, every inning saw a new Aggie pitcher. Christian Roa was the first out of the pen. Jack Conlon, Mason Cole, Cason Sherrod, Chris Andritsos, Kyle Richardson and Dustin Saenz were the others to pitch. The eight pitchers allowed five hits and one unearned run while striking out 11 batters.

At the plate, the Aggies scored 18 runs on 16 hits. Chandler Morris blew the game open in the first with a grand slam. Will Frizzell would also contributed four runs batted in. Andritsos not only pitched, but also contributed at the plate with a solo home run in the sixth to finish the scoring for the Aggies. A&M would win going away 18-1.

In the conference series, the Aggies welcomed the No. 1 team in the nation to Blue Bell Park. The question heading into the series, could the Aggie pitching keep the Florida Gators from going crazy? The answer, for the most part, was yes, outside of a couple of innings the Aggies let get away from them.

The Aggies and starter Mitchell Kilkenny got off to a solid start and kept the Gators off balance until he fell into trouble in the sixth. Kaylor Chafin would come in, but was unable to record an out. He faced three batters and all three batters got a hit to put the Aggies behind by five.

At the plate, Florida pitcher and eventual first-round pick Brady Singer went the distance, allowing only six hits. The Aggies had one real chance to take the lead in the fourth, but George Janca was unable to produce with the bases loaded. That was the only inning where the Aggies had more than one base runner in an inning. Florida would eventually score a few more late to take the opener 9-0.

In the second game, the start was very reminiscent of the first game. A&M again saw themselves down one heading to the sixth where the Gators scored three. Starter John Doxakis pitched well, allowing three hits, but the problem was his control as he gave up four walks. He compounded the problem with a throwing error in the sixth to spark the Gators. Lacy would come in to pitch the final four innings allowing two hits and two runs.

At the plate, the Aggies struggled against another potential first round draft pick in Jackson Kowar. A&M did not get their first base runner until the fifth. Before that Kowar had retired 14 straight to start the game. Janca would produce the first hit in that same inning to give the Aggies a chance, but Aaron Walters would fly out to end the inning. A&M had a chance in the sixth to get back in the game, but Frizzell struck out with runners on second and third. A&M would threaten again in the seventh and eighth but unfortunately the Aggies could not produce the big hit. Florida took game two by the final score of 6-1.

In the rubber match, starter Stephen Kolek would pitch six, giving up six hits and three runs. Nolan Hoffman closed the door on the Gators. Kolek survived a rough start giving up a run in each of the first three inning, but settled down to push his record to 5-4. Hoffman picked up his 10th save of the season.

On offense, the hits missing from the first two days showed up on Sunday. The Aggies had 11 hits — more than they had in the first two games combined. After a balk scored the first run, Walters and Janca gave A&M their first lead of the weekend.

Hunter Coleman’s home run in the fourth gave the Aggies the lead once and for all. Cole Bedford also went deep to push the lead to two before an error by Florida in the seventh gave the Aggies a four-run lead. A&M won the game 7-3 to salvage one game in the series and potentially keep their NCAA hosting chances alive.

In the Perfect Game/Rawlings poll, the Aggies moved down four spots to No. 21. In the Coaches poll, the Aggies dropped two spots to No. 20.

In the Baseball America and D1Baseball polls, A&M is unranked

In the Collegiate Baseball polls, the Aggies dropped a spot to No. 23.

In the NCBWA poll, the Aggies dropped six spots to No. 24.

Next: People you didn't know went to Texas A&M

This week, the Aggies do not have a midweek game. The SEC series will be on the road to face No. 6 (in four of the six polls) Arkansas. The Razorbacks are leading the SEC West at 14-10 so this week will determine if the Aggies have a shot at the SEC West title. Currently, the Aggies are two games back of Arkansas.