Texas A&M baseball’s Michael Earley talks expectations in Year 1
Between being a preseason favorite and building Year 1 of a new culture, Texas A&M baseball head coach Michael Earley talks about balancing it all.
COLLEGE STATION— Texas A&M baseball’s early-season struggles continued Saturday as the Aggies lost their second game in a row in heartbreaking fashion, 6-2, to Alabama.
No. 21 A&M (10-8) saw back-to-back home runs in the ninth inning be the difference Friday night, and similarly, on Saturday afternoon; it was a Crimson Tide home run in the final frame, handing A&M a loss once again. This time, it was Will Hodo who blasted a grand slam over the right field wall off reliever Luke Jackson, that put Alabama on top for good to clinch a series win.
Like Friday night, No. 16 Alabama (19-1) allowed A&M to tie the game in the bottom of the eighth inning, with a single off the bat of third baseman Wyatt Henseler that scored Sam Erickson from second base. However, the Crimson Tide got after the Aggies’ relievers for the second night in a row, hitting their third home run in two total nine innings.
A&M finished the day with four hits on offense and three errors on defense as its fielding continues to be an issue in the early going.
Freshman second baseman Sawyer Farr was the most productive bat in the much-maligned A&M offense, registering one hit, two walks and one RBI on the day. Alabama collected eight hits and continued to elevate its game at crucial points in the outing.
Starting pitcher Justin Lamkin threw another quality outing, going five innings and finishing with eight strikeouts, three walks and one earned run on 95 pitches.
Alabama’s right-handed starter Riley Quick was lights out against the Aggies, lasting five innings, allowing zero runs and one hit, striking out six and walking two on 86 pitches. The Crimson Tides’ Justin Lebron led the way with three hits on the day and two RBIs, while outfielder Coleman Mizell and infielder Brennen Norton had two hits apiece.
A&M entered the weekend ranked 21st in the USA TODAY Baseball Coaches Poll but will surely take a hit following the rough start to the weekend. Alabama is ranked 16th.
The Aggies’ next game is 4 p.m. Sunday as A&M wraps up the opening series of conference play versus Alabama.
Reach Texas A&M beat reporter Tony Catalina via email at ACatalina@gannett.com. Follow the American-Statesman on Facebook and X for more. Your subscription makes work like this possible. Get access to all of our best content with this tremendous offer.
