Texas A&M Baseball falls out of the polls after series sweep to Arkansas

Texas A&M baseball (34-17) took one on the chin at Arkansas. The Aggies are now tied for fifth in the West, postseason momentum starts this weekend.

After being swept at Arkansas, Texas A&M’s baseball was left out of all of the most recent rankings, which means their chance of hosting is basically over unless they catch lightning in a bottle this weekend versus South Carolina and next weekend in the SEC tournament.

A&M did not have a midweek game this week. Maybe that was part of the problem. In the conference series, the Aggies traveled to Fayetteville to face No. 6 Arkansas. The question heading into the series was the same from the Florida series. Could they keep the high powered Hogs from scoring a bunch of runs? The answer, for the most part, was yes, outside of a couple of innings the Aggies let get away from them.

In game one, Arkansas jumped on the Aggies and starter Mitchell Kilkenny right away. The Hogs had four hits with one of them being a big home run by Carson Shaddy. Arkansas was up 4-0 after the first, but the Aggies responded with home runs by Hunter Coleman and Will Frizzell to pull within one. That would change in the fifth when six of the first seven hitters for Arkansas reached base. When it was done, Arkansas led 9-3 which would ultimately be the final score.

At the plate, the Aggies struggled to get anything going. The six hits in the game came from the 4-7 hitters in the lineup. Michael Helman, Logan Foster and Braden Shewmake were a combined 0-11, this team will not go anywhere if those three guys do not hit.

In the second game, the start was different even though the Hogs scored in the first. A&M starter John Doxakis pitched very well outside of the four walks in six innings. You should expect the offense to provide some help if the pitching and defense holds the other team to three runs. Shaddy was everything for Arkansas as he drove in all three of their runs.

The Aggies did not score a run till the ninth inning and they mustered a mere six hits in the game again. They had a chance in the first with the bases loaded, but Foster flew out to end the threat. The next hit came in the fifth with a leadoff double by Chandler Morris, but he was stranded at third after Cole Bedford and Shewmake both flew out to center. A&M had a chance in the ninth to do some damage, but again they could not come up with the big hit. Arkansas would take game two and the series 3-1.

Arkansas repeated their early success by scoring in the first inning of game three. This time it came in part due to two errors by the Aggie defense. Starter Stephen Kolek would pitch into the sixth, but he like his partners could not avoid giving up a big hit. This time it was delivered by Luke Bonfield which gave Arkansas a 4-0 lead after three.

At the plate, the Aggie offense continued to struggle scoring only one run in the first eight innings. Bedford and Allonte Wingate provided five of the Aggie eight hits in the game. A&M would score twice in the ninth, but the rally fell short as Arkansas swept the Aggies 6-3.

For those wondering if the Aggies still have a shot at hosting, the answer is yes, but the odds are not good. The Aggies probably need to sweep South Carolina and get to the championship game in the SEC tournament. That still might not be enough.

In the Perfect Game/Rawlings, Coaches, Baseball America, D1Baseball and Collegiate Baseball polls, the Aggies are unranked.

The NCBWA poll has yet to be released, but expect the Aggies to be unranked in this poll as well.

Next: 5 Aggies who could have breakout seasons in 2018

This week, the Aggies welcome Sam Houston State to Blue Bell Park. The SEC series will be the last of the season before postseason play begins. South Carolina comes to Aggieland winners of four straight SEC series. The Gamecocks find themselves one game back of Georgia for second place in the SEC East.