No moral victories: Despite close losses, Texas A&M wasn't good enough against Texas

Texas A&M went into the weekend hoping to take another series off of no. 1, and instead got swept by the narrowest of margins.
Jun 24, 2024; Omaha, NE, USA;  Texas A&M Aggies right fielder Jace Laviolette (17) looks over the field after the loss against the Tennessee Volunteers at Charles Schwab Field Omaha. Mandatory Credit: Steven Branscombe-Imagn Images
Jun 24, 2024; Omaha, NE, USA; Texas A&M Aggies right fielder Jace Laviolette (17) looks over the field after the loss against the Tennessee Volunteers at Charles Schwab Field Omaha. Mandatory Credit: Steven Branscombe-Imagn Images | Steven Branscombe-Imagn Images

Texas A&M came into this weekend's series against the now-top-ranked Texas Longhorns with a massive chip on their shoulder. This Aggie team looked resurgent after three straight series wins, including two over top-two ranked squads, so they were hoping against hope that they could pull off another one.

That's not even to mention the revenge factor for the Ags. After Jim Schlossnagle abandoned them for Texas, this is a team that had every off-the-field reason to come into this one with a lot of emotion.

And while they certainly played with a lot of emotion, it wasn't enough to get them across the hump. The Aggies ended up getting swept this weekend by their archrivals, even though each game was decided by only one run.

There are no good takeaways from Texas A&M's debilitating sweep in Austin

As the title says, though, this is the last series in which the Aggies can find any moral victories. There was not only a lot riding on this for team momentum reasons— the wind is now completely out of the maroon sails, it would seem— but losing three in a row, even if it is to no. 1, makes the Aggies' shot at the postseason look a lot slimmer all of a sudden.

With series upcoming against Georgia, Missouri, and LSU, A&M will probably need to find six wins in order to make it to the tournament field. Given that two of those teams have been playing top-10 level ball for the entirety of the season, that's a tough ask.

And even though the margin was so slim this weekend, the thing that has felt like it's been missing this season (with a few notable exceptions) is the clutch gene. All three of these games presented opportunities for the Aggies to grab control and steer the ship home; instead, they folded several times in key moments.

If this team really is different than how we thought at the beginning of the season, then they'll have to show it here soon. They sure didn't this weekend.