Click here to view Texas A&M’s Wednesday press conference.
There will be plenty of clouds in Bryan-College Station this weekend.
Some carrying precipitation. Some still lingering from June of 2024.
Whether it’s raining or not, insults and anger will undoubtedly rain on Blue Bell Park’s first base dugout as a downpour of pent-up hostilities born of betrayal and deceit is expected.
When there are breaks in the weather, it’s still baseball as No. 18 Texas A&M and No. 2 Texas resume the state’s greatest rivalry on a weekend that features football levels of anticipation.
“There might be something else on the line, but for whatever that is, it’s going to be a fun weekend,” first baseman Gavin Grahovac said. “I’ve only heard amazing things for what’s to come from the environment and the people that are showing up. I’m excited. This rivalry is going to be fun.”
Weather permitting, the 2026 Lone Star Showdown begins on Friday at 7 p.m. CT, followed by ballgames on Saturday and Sunday at 2 p.m. and 1 p.m., respectively.
A sold-out series, ticket prices on the secondary market range from the triple digits up to $1,335 as angry Aggies eagerly await the return of Michael Earley’s predecessor.
You remember the story. The highlights include a heartbreaker in a national title game, a fiery postgame non-answer, shocking next-day departures and fiction about Snook.
But that was nearly 22 months ago. Disdain for No. 22 will likely never dissipate in College Station, at least for those outside the lines.
“The product on the field is going to be huge for the environment, and then you’ve got the rivalry, which is the best in college sports in my opinion,” Earley said. “Playing at a place like Blue Bell in the thick of your conference, where both teams are desperate to win, I think you’re going to get a great product on the field. Mix that with a great environment, it just magnifies everything.
“I understand everything, but I do have personal relationships with those guys. They were really good to me when I was here, but at the same time, when we step on the field, that means nothing to me in that moment. They want to beat me as badly as I want to beat them.”
That’s always the goal, and his club has been beating teams pretty regularly over the last few weeks.
A&M has won eight of its last 10. Winning six of their previous seven conference games, the Aggies are now 7-5 and tied for fifth in the SEC.
But can their potent offense, which leads the league with 118 runs in 12 SEC contests, stay hot vs. perhaps the nation’s top pitching staff?
“At the end of the day, they’ve got to throw the ball in the strike zone, and we’ve got to do our best to get hits and score runs, produce what we can,” Grahovac said. “It’s just another game for us.”
One of seven players on A&M’s 35-man roster who actually played for Jim Schlossnagle, Grahovac is one of the top hitters in this Aggie-Longhorn showdown. As are the respective centerfielders, Caden Sorrell and Aiden Robbins, who are both playing at All-American levels.
Where Texas has a decided edge, at least on paper, is on the mound.
With a rotation bookended by right-hander Ruger Riojas and southpaw Dylan Volantis, the Longhorns own an SEC-best 3.25 ERA in 108.1 conference innings.
They have dominated the zone, but they are not invincible.
In fact, Texas has lost three of four conference series openers.
“You should be excited. It’s Texas and Texas A&M,” Earley said. “The part, too, that’s going to make it even better is you’ve got two quality teams going into battle.
“You have to channel those emotions in a different way. You have to play the game like you’re playing in a fall scrimmage and playing one pitch at a time. Playing with emotion but not being emotional is the biggest thing.”
Indeed, it’s a big test, and the stakes appear bigger than normal. They usually are when Maroon & White meets burnt orange.
The sides of this rivalry are well defined. For all but a few, that is never cloudy.
