Questions continue to swirl as A&M baseball opens SEC play with soul-crushing loss

Texas A&M baseball has not begun the season in the way that any Aggie envisioned. The Ags were a consensus number one team in the preseason, but they have looked far from such a status so far in the year.

You have to anticipate some growing pains with a first-time head coach and all the upheaval the program underwent in the offseason, but there's just a lot that has seemed out of whack. There have been some pleasant surprises, like Terrence Kiel II, but just as many head-scratching moments.

Coming into SEC play, the Aggies are still ranked, but not exactly on a hot streak. A&M needed to kick things off with a strong showing here, as they are staring down the barrel of a brutal schedule this entire year.

Texas A&M baseball wastes comeback with late-game pitching catastrophe

The Aggies stood toe to toe with Alabama here for most of the game, it's true. The Tide never trailed in the game, but they were never comfortable, either.

Bama jumped out to a 2-0 lead, and then eventually made it a 4-2 game after the A&M bats woke up. The Aggies kept pushing, though, and a solo home run by Hayden Schott in the 8th inning tied things up at 4.

Sawyer Farr got on base as well, but Alabama closed out the inning without further damage. Luke Jackson and Kaiden Wilson took down the first two batters in the 9th with the top of the Aggie order awaiting, but Brad Rudis couldn't finish the job. The Tide knocked two solo homers out of the park on two consecutive pitches to regain their two-run lead.

The Aggies got Kent and LaViolette on base with no one out in the bottom of the 9th, but Henseler hit into a double play that put the Ags in a tough position. Gavin Kash reached first on a single, but TK, who had been stellar throughout the contest, grounded out to end the game.

The Aggies will face off against Alabama again tomorrow in the second game of the series.