Game #19: No. 17 Alabama 2, No. 19 Texas A&M 0
Records: Texas A&M (10-9, 0-3), Alabama (20-1, 3-0)
WP: Bobby Alcock (3-0)
LP: Myles Patton (2-2)
Save: Braylon Myers (1)
Box Score
Take your pick: Stagnant. Lifeless. Inept.
Those are descriptors for Texas A&M's offensive performance on Sunday as well as the club's entire weekend.
Alabama right-handers Bobby Alcock and Braylon Myers combined to shut out the 19th-ranked Aggies in Sunday's finale, 2-0, as the No. 17 Crimson Tide left Blue Bell Park with a series sweep.
“You've got to hit. Especially, you've got to hit on game three of a series. For us, really, the standard is hitting in every game and getting on base, and when they don't give you a chance to walk, that's fine, but you've got to hit. We're not."
- A&M head coach Michael Earley
"You've got to hit. Especially, you've got to hit on game three of a series," A&M head coach Michael Earley said. "For us, really, the standard is hitting in every game and getting on base, and when they don't give you a chance to walk, that's fine, but you've got to hit. We're not."
A&M collected just four hits. Only six Aggies reached base. Just twice did the home nine have a man in scoring position.
Indeed, the first time anybody wearing "Texas A&M" on their chest crossed home plate was when kids ran the bases postgame.
"Just not squaring balls up, not on time consistently," Earley said. "We're not putting ourselves in spots to do damage on pitches we should do damage on. It's unfortunate, but that's the reality of it."
Entering the ballgame with a 5.54 ERA in just 13 innings pitched, Alcock fanned eight Aggies across seven innings, allowing just four singles and two walks.
Myers earned a two-inning save by retiring all six men that he faced.
A&M's offense advanced just one man to third base all afternoon: Kaeden Kent in the first.
"They threw strikes, and we didn't do anything with them," Earley said. "We chased some pitches, but for the most part, looking at it throughout the game, they filled it up. When guys fill it up, you've got to hit. Period. We didn't."
Once again, similarly to both Friday and Saturday, the offense failed to support another solid starting pitching performance.
Left-handed pitcher Myles Patton worked into the sixth inning, dodging traffic across his first four frames. He struck out six and walked two.
"Great again," Earley said of Patton. "I'll take our three starters up against anyone, just as a collective whole.
"Again, starting pitching on the weekend continues to give us chances to win, and that's all we can ask for."
However, Kade Snell's two-out double chased him, and Will Plattner's subsequent two-bagger off Weston Moss gave Alabama the only run it needed.
Will Huffman, TexAgs
Myles Patton and Weston Moss combined for 10 strikeouts on Sunday.
Two innings later, Snell provided an insurance marker with a two-out home run. The Alabama left fielder finished 3-for-3 with two doubles, the homer and scored both runs.
"Obviously, they've got a lot of talent over there," Patton said. "They're a great offense. One of the best in the country."
This weekend, A&M starters combined to pitch 17.2 innings vs. the Tide. They allowed just six total runs.
In the corresponding 17 offensive half innings, the Aggies provided the trio of Ryan Prager, Justin Lamkin and Patton with just three runs of support.
"It's the same as if we've got 10 runs on the board," Patton said. "Pitching to our standard, not the scoreboard, is our biggest thing that we always talk about. We all know that, eventually, things will come around for the offense."
There's an adage to surviving life in the grueling Southeastern Conference: Win your home series and don't get swept on the road.
Getting swept out of your home ballpark to open league play is the polar opposite of what's required.
Once the nation's top-ranked team, the Aggies will likely wake up on Monday out of the polls altogether.
Once the betting favorite to win the national championship, A&M is suddenly — and shockingly — fighting an uphill battle to make the NCAA Tournament.
That's now A&M's reality.
"No, quit, man, and there won't be because I won't stop. I know they won't stop," Earley said. "As bad as it is, as low as it gets, adjustments have to be made. We've got to perform better, but at the same time, you won't see no quit out of us."
Signs of life are required in earnest if the current ineptitude is to end.
