A&M advances to SEC Tourney quarterfinals with narrow 3-2 win vs. Auburn

Game #55: Texas A&M 3, Auburn 2
Records: Texas A&M (30-25, 11-19), Auburn (38-17, 17-3)
WP: Justin Lamkin (5-7)
LP: Cam Tilly (3-3)
Save: Clayton Freshcorn (2)
Box Score

There are good breaks in baseball, and there are bad breaks in baseball.

The latter has outweighed the former in Texas A&M’s baseball season, but it may have dealt its heaviest hand (no pun intended) today when Jace LaViolette had to exit the game after being struck in the hand/fingers by a pitch in the fifth inning.

Jake Crandall / USA TODAY NETWORK

During the fifth inning, Jace LaViolette was hit in hand and never returned.

Head coach Michael Earley told the SEC Now crew that the Aggies' all-time home run leader would be out for the rest of A&M’s time in Hoover.

So far in the SEC Tournament, A&M has seen both sides of the fortune coin — especially in today's nail-biting 3-2 win over Auburn to send them into the quarterfinals.

Justin Lamkin got the start and was rock solid again after his masterful performance last week against Georgia.

Getting the ball on one day's short rest, the Corpus Christi southpaw bewildered one of the hottest offenses in the country to the tune of five-plus innings, one run and three hits.

He battled through some iffy fastball command early with a devastating array of sliders until he got the heater honed in as his day went on.

He gave way to Weston Moss in the sixth inning with no outs and a man on first. The right-hander got through the inning unscathed thanks to a sprinting grab in left-center field by Sawyer Farr to rob the Tigers of a run and end the frame.

Not to be outdone by his fellow freshman classmate, Terrence Kiel II made a wild over-the-shoulder grab as he slid onto the warning track and into the centerfield wall to take away Auburn's extra bases with two outs in the seventh. 

After being in the offensive doldrums for most of the day outside of a three-run, buggy-whipped Kaeden Kent homer in the third, A&M's best run-scoring opportunity came in the eighth when Jamal George, in for the injured LaViolette, worked a lead-off walked, which was followed by a ringing Wyatt Henseler single to left.

Up by two and looking for insurance, Earley had Gavin Kash square to bunt in an effort to sacrifice the runners into scoring position. However, the ball was popped up straight to Auburn reliever Cade Fisher, who made the play.

The next hitter was Bear Harrison, who ended up rifling a ball to deep center field that would have resulted in a valuable insurance run had the sacrifice been executed the at-bat before.

A&M would strand those two runners as the game moved to the bottom half of the eighth.

Pinch-hitter Cade Belyeu got the Tigers going with a line drive single to center. Moss then got a one-hop comebacker that looked to be ripe for a routine double play, except for the fact that both Aggie middle infielders were covering second base, resulting in an awkward catch by Kent to only retire the lead runner.

The next hitter, Eric Guevara, singled through the left side, leading to the game's pivotal moment as the Tigers had the go-ahead run coming to the plate in the form of their likely All-American Ike Irish. 

Earley and Jason Kelly chose to play the matchup game and went to the bullpen to grab Kaiden Wilson to face the left-handed hitting Irish. 

Jake Crandall / USA TODAY NETWORK

Kaeden Kent was one of four Aggies to record a hit on Thursday.

On a 1-2 pitch, Irish rolled a soft grounder off the end of the bat to Ben Royo, who flipped to Kent for one out, but the return throw to first wasn't in time.

However, Guevara's slide into second was heinous and nowhere near the base as he attempted to disrupt the double play. Interference was correctly called, and the Aggies were out of the jam.

The top of the ninth saw the Aggies go quietly on a pair of punchouts. They had 14 of those on the day. 

Wilson took the mound in the final half inning with a two-run lead. He induced a soft grounder to Royo that retired the leadoff man before Lucas Steele launched a no-doubt home run over the wall in left field to cut the A&M advantage to a single run.

Wilson bounced back nicely and was able to get Eric Snow to fly out lazily to Kiel in center. 

Auburn manager Butch Thompson would turn to his bench and call up right-handed veteran Deric Fabian with his club down to their final hope.

The Aggies countered with a change of their own as Clayton Freshcorn came trotting out of the bullpen with the 12th Man's hearts in their throats.

On the second pitch of the at-bat, Freshcorn's cutter was lifted off the end of the bat to left field, where Farr secured it easily to end the contest and extend the A&M season to another day. 

Another showdown with LSU, and likely LHP Kade Anderson, under the lights is the reward for the Maroon & White.

With no Caden Sorrell or LaViolette in the lineup and their postseason hopes still hanging in the balance, the Aggies may have to get creative, especially against a pitching staff of that caliber.

Of course, they wouldn't be opposed to a heaping helping of lady luck on Friday night at 6:30 p.m. CT, either.