Late three-run blast sinks Aggies as Arkansas clinches SEC West crown
Game #54: No. 3 Arkansas 6, No. 5 Texas A&M 3
Records: Texas A&M (43-11, 18-11), Arkansas (43-11, 20-9)
WP: Mason Molina (4-2)
LP: Josh Stewart (1-2)
Box Score
Hard fought, but all for naught.
After a close game, No. 5 Texas A&M dropped Game 2 of the series to No. 3 Arkansas, 6-3, as Hudson White launched a go-ahead three-run homer in the eighth inning.
With the loss, the Aggies' hopes for an SEC West crown have been vanquished.
In a 3-3 game heading to the eighth, A&M relief pitcher Josh Stewart allowed the first two runners to reach via a single and a double, respectively.
Facing White in a 3-2 count, Stewart hung a breaking ball that White sent 404 feet over the left-field wall.
From then, the Aggie bats were silenced, much like they were after the first three innings.
In fact, five of the Aggies’ seven hits came in the first three innings, and the fifth frame was the last time in which the Maroon & White had someone reach base via a hit.
Thursday night's contest was a pitchers’ duel, and early on, it appeared that would be reversed.
Braden Montgomery broke out of a slump with a two-run homer in the first inning, giving the Aggies an early 2-0 lead. He finished the day a much-needed 2-for-4 at the plate while also being robbed of another hit on a diving catch from Peyton Holt in centerfield.
“Braden cares a lot,” A&M head coach Jim Schlossnagle said. “He doesn’t want to let anybody down. I told him, ‘You’re not letting anybody down. We’re having a great year because of you.’
“I told him if you've had a bad 10-day stretch, it just means you’re going to have a great 10-day stretch coming up. He had a great day today, and he’ll continue to have great days.”
Montgomery added: “It was kind of just about recommitting to who I am and who I’ve been. It’s a nice reminder of the person I am, and so I just want to make sure I am always me and not losing my way.”
The Razorbacks tied it up with an RBI single from Holt in the second and Wehiwa Aloy’s solo homer in the third.
Gavin Grahovac led off the third inning with a rope double into the right-center gap. A batter later, Jace LaViolette, laced a single to right, scoring Grahovac and putting the home side ahead 3-2.
After that, the offense slowed down, and the pitchers began to take over. Brad Rudis opened the game for the Aggies, and Justin Lamkin followed in relief.
Other than Aloy’s home run, Lamkin pitched a clean 3.1 innings before facing trouble in the sixth inning.
With two men on, Ben McLaughlin singled to left center, tying the game at three apiece.
The Razorbacks starter Gage Wood battled through the adversity in the later innings and began to settle in. Wood tossed five innings and was charged with two earned runs on seven hits and five punchouts.
Behind him, Parker Coil faced the minimum in the sixth inning, and Texas Tech transfer Mason Molina pitched a perfect three innings to finish off the victory.
With a top-four seed secured in the SEC Tournament and the division title out of the picture, there is not much left to play for in the regular-season finale other than bragging rights over the Hogs.
Schlossnagle said he might opt to change things up in Saturday’s contest as he did on Friday night.
After Florida defeated Georgia — securing the Aggies a double bye — Schlossnagle & Co. opted to open with Rudis.
“That put us in the top-four of the league, which I feel confident will put us in a good position for the NCAA Tournament,” Schlossnagle said. “I’m not going to bring anybody back on short rest, so probably have one of those kinds of games where we don’t start one of the regular starters or we start one of the young guys that started the midweek games.
“Also, I just wanted to change the look a little bit to Arkansas.”
It was announced before the series that Shane Sdao would be the Game 3 starter.
However, Schlossnagle said that may not be the case.
“We got to set ourselves up best for the postseason,” Schlossnagle said. “We have some conversations we have to have tonight. Right now, Sdao, but we’ll see.”
Regardless, there is still a game left to play. The Ags and Hogs will face off in the rubber match Saturday at 2 p.m. CT.
