Moss roars as Texas A&M reaches regional final

Game #55: #12 Texas A&M 17, Texas State 2
Records: Texas A&M (41-14, 18-11), Texas State (37-25, 16-14)
WP: Weston Moss (5-2)
LP: Jesus Tovar (9-4)
Box Score

Explosions are inherently loud.

On Saturday night, Texas A&M’s offense was deafening in a 17-2 decimation of Texas State at the College Station Regional.

However, the biggest noise came from an Aggie right-hander.

Ending the sixth inning with a strikeout of Jaquae Stewart, Weston Moss let out a thunderous roar while walking off the Blue Bell Park mound.

“I think it just felt good,” the A&M starter said. “I think I got 3-2. I think he missed a call there too, so I was a little fired up.”

It’s been an up-and-down season for the Lake Creek kid, but he’s now a huge reason the Aggies are one win away from a super regional.

Throwing a career-best 7.1 innings with a career-best 10 strikeouts, Moss dazzled and even retired a string of 13 consecutive Bobcats as the A&M offense — something of a nodding-off giant — fully awoke from a late-May slumber.

“He did his job, and he was phenomenal,” A&M head coach Michael Earley said. “Incredible performance. Exactly what we needed. Also good too because we plan on playing for a while, so good for him to go off something like that because he is going to throw again this season.

“I know we got a lot of runs, but he held them down and gave us a chance.”

At least early, it was Texas State making the noise.

Manny Salas took Moss deep in the first. So did Jackson Cotton in the second.

Beyond those two solo home runs, the junior allowed just three more hits and did not surrender another run as the Aggie bats provided him with more than enough run support.

With Mike Elko looking on, A&M gave Moss two touchdowns and even added a field goal.

“I felt great. It was fun,” Moss said. “Felt good outside. Little humid, but the third inning was pretty huge. I felt like that was the turning point, to be honest.

“That inning, I felt dialed in. I knew I was going to carry it the rest of the game. I knew they tagged me a little bit the first two innings, but solo home runs don’t kill you.”

Trailing 2-0, Gavin Grahovac’s third-inning solo homer got A&M on the board. In the bottom half, Moss countered by striking out the side on just 10 pitches.

From there, it was all Aggies.

The Maroon & White scored at least one run in six consecutive innings, including five in the sixth and seven in the eighth.

Perfecting Earley’s “take balls, swing at strikes and do damage” approach, A&M amassed 20 hits and 10 free passes. All nine starters had a hit. Seven drove in at least one run.

“I knew we were going to have time to score,” Earley said. “Our guys have been hitting the ball hard, and you knew it was going to break through at some point.”

As he did Friday, Grahovac jump-started the offense.

Caden Sorrell, Chris Hacopian, Jake Duer and Boston Kellner each had three hits.

Duer drove in six, including a go-ahead two-run homer in the fourth.

Perhaps the frontrunner to win regional MVP, Hacopian picked up four RBI to run his weekend total to seven.

Nine Bobcat pitchers failed to silence the Aggies.

Danny Grant, TexAgs

With a two-run home run, a two-run single and a two-run double, Jake Duer posted a career-best six RBI.

“That’s our offense,” Duer said. “We’ve been looking for that, and to finally get that back, it shows we’re ready to go.”

For all the noise made at the plate, perhaps the sweetest sound came when Earley stepped out of A&M’s third base dugout with one out in the bottom of the eighth.

After Brady Boles bounced out to the pitcher, the skipper gave Moss his moment.

A chorus of 7,061 — plus a few more in Aggie Alley — showed their appreciation.

Indeed, Moss’ performance spoke volumes as Blue Bell Park reached 11.

“It reminded me of Auburn, but that could’ve been my last game there, so it was very special.”

NOTE: Postgame, Earley announced that sophomore right-handed pitcher Aiden Sims will miss the remainder of the season with an elbow injury.

“Aiden will be out for the rest of the year. He was going good. He was good Thursday. He was fine on Friday. It’s just not there, and for the best interest of the kid, he’s not going to pitch. That was not the case early on. He was throwing. These guys will tell you. He was throwing off the mound. It just got to a point where it was not right to throw him out there. He was a warrior this season. He’s a huge part of why we’re in the position. He did his job, and it’s just not the right thing for him to go out there and throw.”

TexAgs baseball analyst Ryan Brauninger reported that Sims will need surgery on his right elbow, but the recovery time is not expected to be long-term. The injury will not require “Tommy John” surgery.

Sims could return to the mound as early as next fall.

With his last performance coming on May 9 at Ole Miss, Sims finishes 2026 with an 8-1 record, 3.84 ERA, 1.07 WHIP and 73 strikeouts in 68 innings pitched.