Texas A&M baseball head coach Michael Earley landed a commitment from another promising left-handed pitcher on Wednesday afternoon.
Ethan Darden announced that he would be joining the Aggies’ pitching rotation, which marks the second pitcher commit for Earley and company this offseason. The Rock Hill, S.C., native posted a 5.50 ERA with 121 strikeouts over 162 innings pitched for the Clemson Tigers since 2023. He started his freshman season as a long reliever before he made the switch to the starting rotation for the Clemson bullpen in 2024.
Darden was ranked as the No. 193 left-hander in his class and the No. 7 lefty in South Carolina by Perfect Game before he officially put the pen to paper and signed with the Tigers in 2022. He began his collegiate career in 2023 by striking out 45 hitters through 55.1 innings pitched and finishing the season with a 5.53 ERA.
His sophomore season in 2024 saw much improvement from the left-hander as he began to enter the Clemson starting rotation. Through 66.2 innings pitched, Darden recorded a 5.13 ERA, 42 strikeouts and notched his first-career complete game.
This past season, which featured the Tigers reaching a Super Regional appearance against the Texas Longhorns, Darden finished with a 4-2 overall record and struck out 34 through 40.0 innings. Although it was not the outing Darden would have liked, he still brought some impressive stuff on the mound and could be a good relief piece in the Texas A&M pitching rotation next year.
One of the major issues for the Aggies throughout the 2025 campaign was trying to get more consistency from the bullpen, which is why the position has been such a focus for the Aggie skipper this offseason. After finishing the season without a postseason appearance for the first time since 2021, the program will need arms like Darden to add depth to a relatively youthful rotation heading into 2026.
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This article originally appeared on Aggies Wire: Texas A&M baseball lands commitment from promising Clemson left-handed pitcher
Reporting by Dylan Flippo, Aggies Wire / Aggies Wire
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