Doubleheader sweep clinches second straight SEC series victory

Game #30: No. 20 Texas A&M 8, Vanderbilt 4
Records: Texas A&M (24-6, 6-5), Vanderbilt (19-13, 6-5)
WP: Gavin Lyons (4-0)
LP: Wyatt Nadeau (1-2)
Box Score

Game #31: No. 20 Texas A&M 12, Vanderbilt 0 (7 innings)
Records: Texas A&M (25-6, 7-5), Vanderbilt (19-14, 6-6)
WP: Aiden Sims (6-0)
LP: Aiden Stillman (0-1)
Box Score

There are two sides to every coin.

Thursday was definitely a heads-up warning about what could be.

Friday was the flip side, as the Aggies didn’t fail in a twinbill sweep of the Vanderbilt Commodores at Blue Bell Park.

One night after poor pitching doomed the Maroon & White, No. 20 Texas A&M won the opener 8-4 and claimed the nightcap 12-0 behind had-to-have-it performances from Aiden Sims, Gavin Lyons and even Weston Moss.

“It speaks to the character of the guys in the locker room, and they’re good players, and I think they understand,” A&M head coach Michael Earley said. “You’re gonna have tough games. You’re gonna get whipped every now and then. You’re gonna be 0-for at the plate or not be good on the mound, but you gotta just continue to show up.

“This game is extremely unforgiving. If you let it beat you up in between the games, it’s gonna show up in the games. … They’re a tough group, and they’ve worked hard all year, so I was not surprised by their performance today at all.”

In what might have been an audition for next Friday’s start, Sims was the best of the bunch in a rubber-match run-rule.

The sophomore right-hander spun a gem — a seven-inning complete game shutout. Only one base runner reached third on three hits and two walks as Sims fanned eight on 117 pitches.

“Just can’t say enough good things about him,” the Aggie skipper said. “I’m extremely happy he’s on our team. That guy’s a freakin’ competitor. Ultimate competitor. What a job by him today. Just really luck to have him, and he’s been great all year.”

Sims’ much-needed brilliance even threatened to drown out the potent Aggie bats and completely overshadowed the ultra-important performances of Moss and Lyons in the opener.

In the end, the 6,640 in the ballpark after the doubleheader rained “AID-EN SIMS! AID-EN SIMS!” chants down on the sophomore as actual rain moved into Aggieland.

“It’s unbelievable,” Sims said. “I felt the same out there. I knew kind of what was going on in the back of my mind, but I knew I had to go out there and throw strike one.”

Danny Grant, TexAgs

Aiden Sims’ gem is the first complete-game by an Aggie in 2026.

The opener was much more anxiety-inducing as the Aggies and Commodores traded paper cuts in the middle innings.

Pitching dehydrated, Moss worked into the fifth, allowing a trio of solo home runs. In relief, Lyons surrendered one solo shot in 3.2 frames before Clayton Freshcorn sealed the series-evening victory.

“They know we need them to be good,” Earley said. “I don’t think me necessarily screaming and yelling at them or things like that… I let the guys who do their job do their job, and they did.

“These guys want to win, and they know what to do. They just have to do it, and they did.”

At the intermission, A&M’s pitching had shown life. Throughout both halves, the offense blistered Vanderbilt pitching.

Nico Partida crushed a two-run homer to begin the opener. Gavin Grahovac launched a sixth-inning opposite-field shot to Section 12.

In the series finale, Chris Hacopian’s two-run blast jump-started a four-homer game from the Aggies.

“Just relentless,” the second baseman said. “We have a really good game plan. Coach Earley is really big on just the process of our at-bats, and all weekend, you saw guys just passing the baton to the next guy, and that’s what was going on today.

“This is a team. We’re not pitchers. We’re not hitters. It’s just one team. We’re all a big unit together.”

In the second, Bear Harrison hit his third of the weekend. An inning later, Blake Binderup’s 451-foot three-run shot made it 7-0. In the fourth, Partida’s second of the day swelled the lead further.

With six A&M home runs on Friday, the weekend total grew to 11 for a second consecutive series.

Across 14 offensive half innings, the Aggies scored in 11 of them. They worked 20 total walks.

“We did a really, really good job of controlling the strike zone,” Earley said. “Getting on base and doing the little things, and then when you get some pitches in the zone, another part of our offense is we want to do damage, and they executed that at a really high level.”

The production was even louder than the postgame firework display.

Friday was indeed festive as the fans who packed the ballpark had plenty of fun.

Now 7-5 in conference, the Aggies are making progress on their mission to prove 2026 ain’t like last year.

With who’s up next weekend, a third straight SEC series victory would have them doing flips of joy.