No. 7 Aggies outplay USC in crucial phases to clinch 10th straight win

Game #10: No. 7 Texas A&M 9, Southern California 3
Records: Texas A&M (10-0), Southern California (2-8)
WP: Weston Moss (2-0)
LP: Tyler Stromsborg (0-2)
Box Score

ARLINGTON, Texas — If there are three phases in football, Jim Schlossnagle can also identify three in baseball.

For the Texas A&M head coach, they are pitching, defense and timely hitting.

A night ago, the latter seemed dormant for the Maroon & White. Their only runs in that win came on a pair of long balls.

But all that changed in the fifth inning of No. 7 A&M's 9-3 victory over Southern California on Saturday afternoon at Globe Life Field.

"When you're used to scoring and you have opportunities and nobody gets the big hit, you can feel some tension in the dugout," Schlossnagle said postgame. "That's the challenge. This game is really hard.

"It's good for us to be in those moments because we're going to be in them a lot in our conference."

Trailing 1-0, the Aggies scored three runs via a trio of two-out base hits in the fifth.

Coming through in the early clutch spot were Braden Montgomery, Ted Burton and Jackson Appel.

That frame spelled a reversal of fortunes as USC starter Tyler Stromsborg stranded five Aggies over the first four innings.

It also foreshadowed a late-inning offensive explosion.

However, that first phase — the pitching — played a crucial role in the middle of the ballgame.

"(Tanner) Jones obviously didn't have his best stuff, but he competed, and we got him to his 50 pitches," Schlossnagle said. "Weston Moss, to me, was the story of the game. A freshman in this environment, to come in and throw strikes, make pitches."

In relief of Jones, who allowed one run on one hit in three innings, Moss earned his second victory of the year as he gave up a singular run in his two innings of work while racking up three Ks.

That second USC run — an Austin Overn RBI single in the sixth — pulled the Trojans within one.

However, USC gifted A&M the momentum as Montgomery and Hayden Schott led off the seventh with back-to-back singles followed by Brock Blatter's lack of control.

The Ags struck for two in the seventh on a balk and a Ryan Targac sacrifice fly.

They added three more in the on a Jace LaViolette RBI triple, Montgomery's third single of the day and a Kaeden Kent bases-loaded walk.

In the ninth, Gavin Grahovac crushed a solo shot to left field to assume a 9-2 advantage.

All the while, Josh Stewart utilized his nasty sweeper-fastball combo to toss a trio of scoreless innings.

"Stewart was great. It's important for us to get some right-handed pitchers out of the bullpen to get some outs against the lefties," Schlossnagle said. "Coach Max (Weiner) has done such a great job with him, building his confidence and showing him that he has some special weapons that he can utilize."

The end result was a decisive victory.

However, it could — and probably should — have been even more lopsided.

A&M stranded 13 as the knockout blow eluded the Aggies.

"We never got the big hit to break the game open, but we were steady, and that's good," Schlossnagle admitted. "We're all used to those big swings, and we're going to need those big swings."

Still, the results are the results.

And A&M is a perfect 10-0 for the first time since 2020.

"It's great. It doesn't mean anything," Schlossnagle said. "We just have to keep being the better team. We're not the team we want to be yet."

The Aggies seek an 11th straight victory with a Sunday rematch against Arizona State to conclude the Kubota College Baseball Series.