Big sticks of Moss, Rock help Ags overpower No. 8 Texas in Austin, 12-9

Game #24: Texas A&M 12, No. 8 Texas 9
Records: Texas A&M (15-9, 3-3), Texas (19-8, 1-2)
WP: Rawley Hector (1-0)
LP: Jared Southard (0-1)
Box Score

Not meaningless.

In a Tuesday night clash in Austin, Jack Moss and Dylan Rock led an offensive charge that stunned the second-largest crowd in Disch-Falk Field history as Texas A&M upset No. 8 Texas, 12-9. The Aggies amassed 13 hits — including seven extra-base knocks — and utilized six pitchers to get across the finish line.

“It’s awesome,” Moss said. “We knew we could do it. Our team is very confident. Baseball is baseball, no matter where you play or who you play in front of.”

A historic night for Moss, he finished 5-for-5 and became the first Aggie to hit for the cycle since Chris Andritsos vs. Cornell in 2018. In his first taste of the historic rivalry, the Aggie first baseman drove in five runs.

“I was just trying to get good pitches to hit,” Moss said. “It can get easy to get away from the simplicity of baseball when the atmosphere is like this, but my thought process was just go up there and see pitches and get good pitches to hit.”

Rock was equally impressive in his Lone Star Showdown debut. The UTSA transfer was 3-for-4 with five RBIs, including the biggest swing of the night.

“That was awesome,” Rock said. “First game t.u.-A&M. It was awesome. It was crazy the whole time.”

With the score tied 4-4 in the fourth, Chanden Scamardo and Kole Kaler each worked two-out walks to load the bases and bring Rock to the plate. On a 2-2 pitch, Rock launched a grand slam to left-center, his sixth home run of the season.

“He left a slider up, and I got my barrel there,” Rock said. “It connected and it just flew out. The wind helped me out a little bit.”

As he crossed the plate, Rock celebrated with an emphatic "horns down" to the hostile crowd. His slam was A&M's second blast of the night, following Moss' two-run homer in the third. Austin Bost added a two-run shot of his own in the eighth to make it 12-6.

“The additional runs and adding on... Adding on saved us,” Texas A&M head coach Jim Schlossnagle said. “If it had been a one-run ballgame, we would’ve been in trouble.”

A&M's offense started early, scoring twice in the first inning. However, the lead was short-lived as Texas tied the game in the bottom half. The Longhorns took a one-run lead on a Douglas Hodo III single in the third before Moss' homer put the Aggies ahead.

On the mound, a Johnny-Fullstaff performance found a way to get 27 outs.

Kate Luffman, Texas A&M Athletics

A triple in the eighth inning completed the cycle for Jack Moss. He finished the night with five RBIs.

Starter Walker Zander recorded just one out before Brad Rudis took over and worked 1.2 innings. Rawley Hector steadied the shaky pitching staff, working three innings and earning the win, the first of his collegiate career.

“You’re playing such a good team with the wind blowing out and all those right-handed hitters, and we’re pretty inexperienced on the mound,” Schlossnagle said.

Chris Cortez worked 2.2 innings, allowing two runs. Jacob Palisch got the final out of the eighth before Micah Dallas got the final three outs while surrendering just one run on Trey Faltine's second home run of the night.

“Micah came to us this morning and said, ‘Hey, if you need me to finish the game, I can throw my bullpen on the field,’” Schlossnagle said. “That’s not exactly how we normally want to draw them up, but in this instance, that’s what we decided to do.”

By utilizing his Saturday starter, Schlossnagle sent a clear message that the midweek battle was not meaningless to the Aggies, who entered the day ranked 64th in RPI.

“It feels good to close out a win over anybody the way our season has gone,” Schlossnagle said. “Super proud of our guys.”

A win over the Longhorns — the No. 3 team in RPI — will certainly provide a much-needed boost to A&M's resume.

The Aggies continue a road swing this weekend as they begin a three-game series with Alabama in Tuscaloosa on Friday night.