Aggies extend season by blanking Mississippi State on Wednesday, 9-0

Game #54: Texas A&M 9, Mississippi State 0 
Records: Texas A&M (29-25, 11-19), Mississippi State (34-21, 15-15)
WP: Ryan Prager (4-4)
LP: Ryan McPherson (3-5)
Box Score

Gave them an inch, but they need to take a mile.

The Aggies must turn Wednesday's second inning into the beginning of a marathon (or at least a 5K) run in Hoover.

Texas A&M blanked Mississippi State in the first round of the SEC Tournament, 9-0, and will now face No. 8 Auburn on Thursday morning.

"Obviously, this season hasn't gone how we want it to go, but at the same time, I still have full faith and believe that (Michael Earley) is the best coach in the nation," outfielder Jace LaViolette told SEC Now postgame. "I just think that some things haven't gone our way, and that's baseball. That's life.

"You can't always succeed and do everything you want in life, but at the same time, I think he says it best: We're not going to stop playing until they tell us we're not allowed to."

Needing a long stay at the Hoover Met, the Aggies used a long second frame to run away from the Bulldogs as they sent 11 men to the plate and scored six runs.

A Bear Harrison fly ball that right fielder Reed Stallman misplayed into a double preceded a Gatlin Sanders error that allowed the first two men to reach.

Ben Royo's RBI single opened the scoring before Kaeden Kent's bases-loaded hit-by-pitch made it 2-0.

Five pitches later, LaViolette launched a grand slam to right field.

It snapped a 0-for-18 slide for the All-SEC selection.

"It was pretty cool," LaViolette told SEC Now. "I've come here three years in a row, and I know it's a pretty notorious park for hitting the long ball in. It's pretty hard to get it out here, and off the bat, it felt pretty good.

"I don't really like talking about it, but I was going through a little streak of not really putting the ball in play, so honestly, I hit it and was like, 'OK, we're making progress here.'"

A&M's progress continued as the Aggies scored two more in the third and another in the seventh.

Of A&M’s nine runs, Mississippi State allowed a pair of unearned markers.

Equipped with a large lead, Ryan Prager turned in a vintage performance in what he hopes is not his last in Maroon & White.

Gary Cosby Jr. / USA TODAY NETWORK

The victory was Ryan Prager’s fourth winning decision of the season.

The left-handed ace allowed just four hits — all singles — across 5.1 scoreless innings while striking out six Bulldogs.

"When we pushed it a day, the play was to throw today no matter what," Prager told SEC Now. "Just adjusting to the morning, that was really the only adjustment, and then it was just go play baseball."

Behind Prager, Clayton Freshcorn retired all five batters he faced before Brad Rudis and Gavin Lyons provided scoreless innings to nail down A&M's fifth shutout victory of the year.

Only three men reached scoring position, and no Bulldogs got to third base as the Aggies held Mississippi State in check all game.

"You're going to see that the rest of the way up until we can't play another game," LaViolette told SEC Now. "There's always been fight in us. We'll never stop fighting."

Between the early offensive explosion and the stout pitching, it was indeed a complete performance from the Maroon & White — the type that must be replicated in Hoover if the season is to extend beyond this weekend.

After all, A&M's marathon resumes Thursday at 11 a.m. CT.