Series evened as Texas A&M falls to No. 13 Georgia on Friday night, 4-3

Game #34: No. 13 Georgia 4, Texas A&M 3
Records: Texas A&M (21-13, 7-7), Georgia (26-9, 9-5)
WP: Chandler Marsh (2-0)
LP: Chris Cortez (4-2)
Save: Jack Gowen (6)
Box Score

Another even series.

Texas A&M fell to No. 13 Georgia on Friday night, 4-3, as the Aggies and Bulldogs have now split the first two ballgames at Foley Field in Athens. The Aggies fell into a four-run hole early and could never fully dig their way out.

“I thought we competed well, and now the only thing that matters is tomorrow,” Texas A&M head coach Jim Schlossnagle said. “We have a chance to win a series, and that’s big, coming on the road and playing such a good team. The only thing that matters is tomorrow.”

The Maroon & White’s offense found little production from the top of their lineup as the first four men in A&M’s order — Brett Minnich, Dylan Rock, Jack Moss and Troy Claunch — went a combined 3-for-16. Rock and Kole Kaler were the only Aggies to register multi-hit nights as A&M tallied just seven total hits.

The strikeout bug also resurfaced as Georgia’s pitching punched out 12 Aggies. Claunch wore the golden sombrero in the cleanup spot, while Minnich took the short walk thrice as the leadoff man.

Georgia struck first via Ben Anderson’s second-inning sacrifice fly. The Bulldog offense tacked on three more in the third, chasing A&M starter Chris Cortez after back-to-back singles led off the frame.

Throwing 61 pitches in his first collegiate start, Cortez was tagged for three runs before Jacob Palisch took over. The Stanford graduate transfer allowed just one run in five innings of work to keep his ball club in the contest, striking out a season-high five batters.

“It was a good ballgame,” Schlossnagle said. “I thought Palisch did an awesome job, keeping us close and keeping us in it.”

By turning in an extended relief appearance, Palisch will likely be unavailable for Saturday’s series finale. Still, the long outing helped preserve the remainder of A&M’s bullpen as Will Johnston was the only other reliever called upon on Friday.

Needing to answer back in the fourth, the Aggies loaded the bases with nobody out but mustered a singular run as Georgia’s Luke Wagner escaped the jam with minimal damage in what was his final inning. The Bulldog starter struck out a career-high five batters and departed with a 4-1 lead.

TexAgs

Palisch was steady out in relief, providing some much-needed length to preserve the rest of the Aggie bullpen for Saturday’s series finale.

Behind Luke Wagner, the UGA bullpen did just enough to seal the victory. Chandler Marsh allowed one run in 1.2 innings, earning the victory in the process. Jaden Woods was charged with one unearned run in 2.2 of work, flirting with a three-inning save before Jack Gowen was called upon for the final two outs.

Down three in the sixth, Austin Bost worked a leadoff walk. With two outs, Kaler roped a double over Cole Wagner's head in right to score A&M’s second run of the evening.

Rock rounded out the scoring with a sacrifice fly to center for the second out of the ninth as Friday night's affair ended with the tying run stranded at second in the form of Logan Britt.

“The offense fought back to bring the go-ahead on base with a 3-2 count and two outs with the right guy at the plate,” Schlossnagle said. “You have to give them credit for making the pitches that they needed to make.”

With the series now even, Texas A&M stares yet another rubber match in the face as the Aggies will play their fourth deciding ballgame in as many weeks. A&M is 1-2 in such contests in conference play.

Saturday’s contest is set for 3 p.m. CT with the dependable Micah Dallas (4-1, 3.99 ERA) starting for the Aggies.

“He has a big challenge ahead of him,” Schlossnagle said of Dallas. “He’s certainly going to have to be at his best, but I have a lot of confidence in him.”