Texas A&M entered the College Station Regional with little momentum after Auburn shut out the Aggies 7-0 in the Quarterfinals of the SEC Tournament, but before hosting Lamar on Friday afternoon, the 12-seed Aggies received news that freshman third baseman Nico Partida was set to return to the starting lineup after missing the last four games.
However, the Cardinals shot out to an early 1-0 lead against junior LHP Shane Sdao, who continued to struggle with two outs, allowing two solo home runs that increased Lamar’s lead to 5-0 heading into the fifth frame. Thanks to Texas A&M’s top of the batting lineup, the Aggies came alive in the fifth, starting with Gavin Grahovac’s solo home run, followed by Chris Hacopian’s two-run homer to cut the lead to two.
Trailing 5-3 in the bottom of the seventh, Nico Partida’s bases-loaded walk was paired with Bear Harrison’s sacrifice fly, tying the game, and thanks to relief pitchers Gavin Lyons and elite closer Clayton Freshcorn, Lamar was held scoreless for the rest of the game.
Texas A&M went on to take its first lead in the bottom of the eighth, thanks to Travis Chesnut’s bunt, leading to a Lamar throwing error that scored Ben Royo, while Chris Hacopian’s pop-up resulted in another score in the bottom of the eighth. After Freshcorn shut out the Cardinals in the ninth, the Aggies entered wait-and-see mode, but will now officially face Texas State on Saturday night in the Winner’s Bracket.
In one of the tighter matchups on the day, Texas State defeated USC after Chase Mora’s two-run home run in the top of the ninth, responding after the Trojans took the lead with a solo homer in the prior inning. For the Aggies, this is the result they were hoping for, especially after star freshman reliever Wade Cooper threw 55 pitches to help seal the win.
Texas A&M will face Texas State at 8:00 p.m. CT. and will be available to stream on ESPN+.
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This article originally appeared on Aggies Wire: Texas A&M baseball’s winner’s bracket matchup revealed
Reporting by Cameron Ohnysty, Aggies Wire / Aggies Wire
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