Ninth-inning grand slam dooms A&M as Alabama claims series, 6-2
Game #18: No. 17 Alabama 6, No. 19 Texas A&M 2
Records: Texas A&M (10-8, 0-2), Alabama (19-1, 2-0)
WP: Matthew Heiberger (2-1)
LP: Kaiden Wilson (0-1)
Box Score
It's déjà vu with a side déjà vu.
Similar to last night's loss, No. 19 Texas A&M was beaten by a back-breaking ninth-inning home run.
But similarly to their earlier losses, the Aggies beat themselves with several errors.
That double negative culminated in a far from positive 6-2 loss to No. 17 Alabama on Saturday afternoon at Blue Bell Park.
"It's devastating," A&M head coach Michael Earley said postgame. "Last night, we got beat. Tonight, we beat ourselves. It's just a roller coaster that's tough to stomach. You have to get it done. I'm just repeating myself over and over again to you guys, which, the fan base, I get the frustration.
"We have to perform better. There's games where they beat us. ... That's happening, but then we're beating ourselves, too. It's extremely beyond frustrating."
True, Will Hodo's 107 mph line drive grand slam into the visiting bullpen put the Tide ahead for good.
However, earlier in the inning, Sawyer Farr booted a routine ground ball that would've been the second out.
It was the third of three errors and ultimately cost A&M a trio of unearned runs, with Hodo's — charged to Luke Jackson — serving as just Alabama's second earned marker of the day.
"You got to play clean baseball," the frustrated Aggie skipper said. "Clearly didn't do that. We didn't get beat by the grand slam."
Before Saturday, A&M had played six consecutive error-free contests.
That run of form ended when Kaeden Kent kicked a ground ball in the seventh, which was followed immediately by Jamal George’s drop on the right-field warning track.
Those two errors allowed an unearned run to score as Alabama assumed a 2-0 lead.
"I expect those plays to be made, and the players do too," Earley said. "It's got to be made. Period. Period. We've got to make those plays, or we're not going to give ourselves a chance."
Still, much like they did on Friday, the Aggies clawed back.
In the seventh, Farr drove in a run before Wyatt Henseler's clutch two-out single an inning later tied the game.
"There's a lot of words being said," Henseler said. "Coach Earley and the staff is trying to find the right things to say to will us to win, but at the end of the day, it's up to us to finally make a decision that we're going to get past this and put our foot on the gas.
"It does feel sometimes like we're playing on our heels right from the get-go instead of being willing to throw the first punch, so I think we respond well, but at the same time, there comes a point where we've got to throw the first punch and stay with it."
Much like Friday, any momentum gained was quickly lost as the bullpen struggled again.
In direct contradiction to his Friday moves, Earley allowed Kaiden Wilson to face Justin Lebron and Jackson to face Hodo.
Lebron walked. Hodo broke the Aggies' backs in grand fashion.
"I liked all the matchups," Earley said. "The problem was that we had to do them."
The lack of run support for yet another solid starting pitching performance forced his hand in the late stages.
Justin Lamkin dueled with fire-balling right-hander Riley Quick for five innings. The Aggies' only blemish was Lebron's solo shot that broke a scoreless tie in the sixth.
"It sucks," Lamkin said. "It's baseball. It happens. It's hard to comprehend at first, but the good thing is we get to come out tomorrow and do it again."
He struck out eight, but his outing was squandered.
Again, there lies another one of A&M's recurring issues.
Entering the weekend, the starting rotation of Ryan Prager, Lamkin and Myles Patton had a combined ERA of 2.04.
Against Alabama, both Prager and Lamkin gave the club a chance to win. Both times, their efforts were wasted.
"I expect Myles to give us a chance to win," Earley said. "It's disappointing to be able to have a luxury of having three starting pitchers like that and not helping them out because those guys are pouring it out there every single night. We just got to do a better job of having their backs."
Eighteen games into the season, more questions than answers still exist...and more questions keep emerging.
Why can't A&M find clutch hits? Which bullpen arms can be trusted? Will the defense make the routine plays? Why does every move Earley makes backfire?
That’s just the beginning of the litany of the unanswered.
"You almost get a sense of we're not playing to win," Earley said. "It's almost like you're waiting to lose, and there's no drill for that. I'm not a player-blaming coach. I truly believe that this is my fault. That aspect of it and that feeling has to come from me."
The Aggies will desperately search for a reversal of fortunes when the series concludes on Sunday at 4 p.m. CT.