The No. 3 Texas A&M baseball team took on No. 1 Tennessee Thursday at 1 p.m. at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium in Hoover, Alabama. Despite its best efforts, A&M lost 7-4.
The top of the first inning was quick as Tennessee graduate LHP Chris Stamos struck out two Aggies in the first 10 minutes of the game. Volunteer junior 2B Chrisitan Moore took first base after an error by Aggie freshman 3B Gavin Grahovac.
By the second inning, Stamos, known for his fastballs above the belt, was off to a quick start. With a 2.43 ERA, he struck out junior SS Ali Camarillo, and the Volunteers held their ground as the Aggies struggled to get past second base.
After Stamos struck out senior 2B Travis Chestnut in the third inning, Grahovac hit a home run out to right field, smoking the ball 378 feet away to give the Aggies the lead at 1-0. The 12th Man cheered and its home game tradition was carried all the way to Alabama as bubbles hovered over the ballpark.
Tennessee responded immediately with a sacrifice fly from sophomore LF Dylan Dreiling toward right field that allowed Moore to secure a run from third base, tying the teams 1-1 by the top of the fourth.
With a .97 WHIP and a world-class fastball, Prager had 104 strikeouts this year — which became 107 by the end of Thursday’s game. He was relieved in the third by senior RHP Brock Peery, who had an ERA of 3.37. Peery walked three Volunteers to load the bases, allowing Moore’s groundout to score freshman 3B Dean Curley, putting Tennessee ahead 2-1.
Tennessee’s pitchers performed opposite of A&M as junior RHP AJ Causey struck out sophomores PH Kaeden Kent and CF Jace LaViolette at the top of the fifth. A&M brought out its third pitcher, junior RHP Tanner Jones, who gave up an RBI double to redshirt sophomore RF Kavares Tears, giving the Volunteers a 3-1 lead.
At the bottom of the fifth, senior C Jackson Appel’s swift swing of the bat shot to center field and gave A&M its second home run of the game.
The Aggies introduced pitcher number four, junior RHP Josh Stewart, and Tennessee’s hitters continued to rake as a single by redshirt junior CF Hunter Ensley advanced the Volunteer to first base and Dreiling to third. Tears came up to bat and shot a homer toward left field, making the score 6-2 at the bottom of the seventh.
Tennessee brought out a little bit of mustache magic with graduate LHP Kirby Connell pitching during the eighth inning. A&M managed to take back a run with an RBI double by senior 1B Ted Burton scoring LaViolette.
In the same inning, Volunteer senior C Cal Stark hit his sixth home run of the year toward left field. Shortly after, A&M bought back its fifth pitcher, freshman RHP Weston Moss. Moss allowed two players to walk but redeemed himself by striking out Ensley, preventing Tennessee from scoring any additional runs.
In the ninth inning, Grahovac hit his second home run of the day at 426 feet, earning the title of the longest home run of the tournament and tying LaViolette’s 2023 freshman record with 21.
However, Connell closed out the Aggies, eliminating A&M from the SEC Tournament. Tennessee will now play the winner of the Mississippi State and Vanderbilt game on Friday at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium.
A&M is done playing in the SEC Tournament, but the Maroon and White will make an appearance in the NCAA Tournament as they are projected to be a top-eight national seed. The selections will be announced on Memorial Day at 11 a.m. on ESPN2.