Texas A&M's postseason pulse plummets as Mizzou completes sweep

Game #50: Missouri 10, Texas A&M 1
Records: Texas A&M (27-23, 10-17), Missouri (16-35, 3-24)
WP: Wil Libbert (3-3)
LP: Myles Patton (3-4)
Save: Josh McDevitt (1)
Box Score

The definition of insanity.

Over and over this weekend, Texas A&M's offensive approach yielded very little.

Yet nothing changed.

It all culminated in a 10-1 loss to Missouri on Sunday afternoon, completing an insanely humiliating three-game sweep at Blue Bell Park.

"We just didn't perform," A&M head coach Michael Earley said. "We've got a pretty basic approach. Trying to stay on balls, hit them hard, lay off off-speed pitches. We just didn't do it. We did not play well, and it's disappointing."

For a second consecutive day, the Aggies accumulated just two hits in yet another do-or-die ballgame.

Indeed, they seemed to roll over, both metaphorically and into a trio of double plays on the rare opportunities with men on base.

Over the three games, A&M did not attempt to steal a single base. Ben Royo laid down a sacrifice bunt in the third, but other than that, the Aggies swung away.

"I don't remember a situation where we could even advance the guy," Earley said. "We weren't even in situations to even situationally hit."

Caden Sorrell's leadoff home run in the fourth represented A&M's first hit. That cut into a 3-0 deficit to which the Tigers responded with seven unanswered to turn Sunday into a laugher.

The only other knock was Hayden Schott's pinch-hit single in the seventh.

"We feel like we failed a lot of people," he said. "I know for a fact that Jace (LaViolette) isn't mad that he didn't perform for the draft. He's mad because he knows his capability, and he wants to play for this university and for coach Earley. That's why he feels the way that he does.

"We've got guys who love each other as people, and the baseball side of it just sucks right now."

Sure, credit is due to Mizzou's left-handed starter Wil Libbert and reliever Josh McDevitt. The southpaw allowed the one run in five innings while striking out five. In a four-inning save, McDevitt struck out five and allowed just two base runners.

However, A&M's offense carries the lion's share of the blame.

"We didn't have any hits," Earley said. "We had two hits, and one of them was a home run. They threw strikes, and we didn't do anything with it."

On the weekend, the Aggies were outscored 23-8 and outhit 38-11 as the Tigers racked up 15 hits on Sunday.

Starter Myles Patton allowed four runs across 4.1 innings before Mizzou tagged relievers Luke Jackson and Clayton Freshcorn for two and four, respectively.

Callie Garner, TexAgs

Freshman Gavin Lyons allowed one hit in three scoreless innings of relief while striking out a trio of Tigers.

All 10 were earned, and by the time Gavin Lyons provided three scoreless innings in his SEC debut, the outcome was already decided.

"They did a really good job offensively later in that game on Friday throughout the rest of the weekend," Earley said of Missouri. "We just couldn't keep them under control." 

In a season now defined by futility and underperformance, the home finale was a masterclass in exactly that.

Just six pitches into the game, Mizzou scored on Jackson Lovich's leadoff home run to right field. The shortstop finished 3-for-5 and a single shy of completing the cycle.

From that moment on, the Aggies chased and chased, and just like their chase for the postseason, they seemingly went nowhere.

"The word 'hope' is so funny," an emotional Schott said. "I can't speak for everyone, but I know there's a good core group of guys that that hope doesn't fade until someone tells us we're done."

With three inexcusable losses, A&M's RPI has ballooned to the high 50s. The Maroon & White's only hope — or what little is left — is to pull a complete 180 next weekend in Athens and carry that into the SEC Tournament.

Back in February, saying the Aggies would be in this position would have qualified as crazy.

Instead, it's just their insane reality.