Late game push not enough for Aggies to overcome Mississippi State, 4-3

Game #50: No. 6 Mississippi State 4, No. 14 Texas A&M 3
Records: Mississippi State (38-10, 15-9 SEC), Texas A&M (32-17-1, 12-11-1 SEC)
WP: Peyton Plumlee (4-3
LP: Christian Roa (2-2)
S: Jared Liebelt (4)
Box Score

A late game push proved to be too little, too late for Texas A&M in their series finale against Mississippi State as the Aggies dropped game two of their doubleheader, 4-3. Ty Coleman and Ty Condel, the eight and nine hitters for Texas A&M, combined for four of the Aggies’ seven total hits.

Christian Roa took the hill to start Saturday’s second game, but his outing was short-lived. The sophomore gave up a run on three hits in the first inning, and a double and a walk in the second had the Bulldogs threatening to score again.

With runners on second and third with near-.400 hitter Jake Mangum coming back up to the plate, the A&M coaching staff opted to make the call to Chris Weber out of the bullpen. Despite first base being open, the A&M coaching staff chose to go after the all-time SEC hit leader, and he made them pay with an RBI single to right to give the Bulldogs an early 2-0 lead.

The Aggies would get their first hits of the game in the bottom of the third. Ty Coleman led off the inning with a single but was immediately caught stealing on a failed sacrifice bunt attempt. Ty Condel would follow with another single, but the Aggies failed to bring him any closer to scoring.

Jackie Ysaquirre, TexAgs

Bryce Blaum gave the Aggies their first run of the game in the sixth – a solo shot to left field.

Chris Weber ran into trouble in the top of the fourth. After giving up a double to pinch-hitter Gunner Halter, walks issued to three consecutive Bulldog hitters (including an intentional walk to Mangum) would plate another run for Mississippi State to give them a three-run cushion through 3.5 innings.

The Aggies would finally score their first run of the game in the sixth inning, a solo shot off the bat of Bryce Blaum over the left field wall.

The Bulldogs would add an insurance run in the top of the seventh off a Justin Foscue solo shot off of relief pitcher Kasey Kalich, his 13th home run of the season. It would prove to be a crucial run for Mississippi State.

The Aggies made things interesting in the final frame. Mikey Hoehner led off the inning with a double, and Cam Blake quickly followed with a triple. Now down just two runs, the Bulldog coaching staff made the move to senior relief pitcher Jared Liebelt. A sacrifice fly from Will Frizzell cut the lead to one, and singles from Ty Coleman and Ty Condel gave Texas A&M a chance to tie the game (and potentially win it) with two outs and Braden Shewmake coming up to the plate. The Aggie leadoff hitter lined one hard to left-center, but it was flagged down in the gap to end the game.

“They were able to score first and early,” Will Bolt said after the game. “We made it a game, and we had a lot of balls hit hard there in the last couple of innings.”

The defeat marks the Aggies’ second consecutive SEC series loss. With just two series remaining in the regular season, the Aggies will look to get back on track when they travel to Tuscaloosa to face the Alabama Crimson Tide next week. First pitch on Friday is scheduled for 6 p.m.