In the first conference series of the season, Texas A&M won game two, sandwiched between one-run defeats to Oklahoma. Both sides deposited balls over the fence in the first two games, but high winds in the series finale saw a high-scoring, small-ball type of ballgame. As for the Aggies, two key offensive pieces, Chris Hacopian and Wesley Jordan, returned to action this weekend. However, it seems the pitching staff may have lost a huge arm for the year, as 12th Man Josh Stewart exited Friday’s opener
four pitches into his relief appearance. The SEC gauntlet officially got underway for A&M, providing a mixed bag of results this weekend against a ranked opponent.
GAME 1: #9 Oklahoma 8, #22 A&M 7
A go-ahead, eighth-inning sacrifice fly completed Oklahoma’s come-from-behind 8-7 win over Texas A&M in Friday’s conference opener from Kimrey Family Stadium in Norman, Okla. The Sooners (16-2, 1-0) took their only lead in the eighth, handing A&M the one-run defeat.
Wearing their new dark charcoal gray uniforms, the Aggies (15-2, 0-1) opened the series with a four-run first. In his first game since Feb. 27, Chris Hacopian collected an RBI double, the only hit of the frame. When the 20-minute top half was done, the visitors had sent all nine hitters to the plate and had given Shane Sdao a 4-0 advantage before he touched the mound.
Oklahoma cut the lead in half at 4-2 in the bottom half to complete a high-scoring opening inning of the series. Two innings later, Bear Harrison cashed in a run-scoring double for a 5-2 Aggie lead. Two straight Sooner RBI singles cut the advantage to 5-4 in the bottom of the third.
Texas A&M extended their lead in the sixth, thanks to Wesley Jordan. The Baylor transfer, playing for the first time since Feb. 21, delivered a two-out, two-run single to make it 7-4. The lead was erased as Oklahoma mashed back-to-back homers in the bottom half to tie the game at 7-7.
Tied at seven, the home team pieced together their eighth-inning rally. A sacrifice bunt put Sooners on second and third with one out, then a deep fly ball to center allowed the go-ahead run to come across. The Aggies got the tying run on base in the ninth but left him there as part of 11 A&M baserunners stranded in game one.
GAME 2: #22 A&M 9, #9 Oklahoma 5
Four home runs surged Texas A&M (16-2, 1-1) on Saturday as they evened the series against Oklahoma in their 9-5 victory at Kimrey Family Stadium in Norman, Okla. Four different Aggies left the yard to help secure the first conference win of the season.
Power hitting was on display to start, as Oklahoma (16-3, 1-1) started the scoring with a first-inning, two-run blast. Chris Hacopian tied the game at 2-2 in the third with a 450-foot no-doubter to left. Both of the infielder’s dingers this season have come away from home.
Texas A&M pushed the lead in the fifth, scoring four times in the frame. Boston Kellner’s leadoff solo shot put A&M in front, before walks from Gavin Grahovac and Hacopian allowed Wesley Jordan to get in on the action. He crushed a three-run shot to push the lead out to 6-2. Oklahoma starter L.J. Mercurius allowed three homers on Saturday after none across his four previous starts.
The Sooners got back in the game with a two-out, two-run blast in the sixth to cut the deficit to 6-4. Both teams loaded the bases in the seventh. A&M squandered their chance, while Oklahoma looked ready to flip the game around, scoring on a bases-loaded walk with no outs. Enter Clayton Freshcorn. The junior did his best Houdini impression, getting some help from his defense to strand the bases loaded and allow no additional damage.
In the eighth, the Aggies got much-needed insurance. Grahovac collected an RBI on a sacrifice fly prior to Caden Sorrell blasting the fourth A&M homer of the game to make it 9-5. In 17 games, the junior has 30 RBI (two shy of his 2025 total) and nine longballs.
Freshcorn retired nine of the 10 Sooners he faced to wrap up the win and secure a three-inning save. It wasn’t the cleanest start, but Weston Moss’ outing that lasted six innings with six strikeouts was enough to earn his third win of the season.
GAME 3: #9 Oklahoma 12, #22 A&M 11
Eighth-inning magic struck again for Oklahoma (17-3, 2-1), as they used a bases-loaded walk to take a high-scoring 12-11 series finale on Sunday and won the series over Texas A&M (16-3, 1-2) at Kimrey Family Stadium in Norman, Okla.
The Sooners tallied six runs over the first two frames, using a two-run first and a four-run second. Five singles, three walks, two errors, one sacrifice bunt, and a wind-aided fly ball double resulted in an early 6-0 advantage for the home squad.
A&M answered with a big inning of their own, scoring a quad of runs in the third. All nine hitters came to the plate as part of the five-hit frame. Terrence Kiel II and Caden Sorrell each had RBI singles before Jake Duer delivered a two-run, two-out base knock to decrease the deficit to 6-4.
Oklahoma made it 8-4 in the bottom half with a two-out, two-run shot to right. Run-producing knocks by Sorrell and Boston Kellner in the fourth and fifth closed the gap to 8-6. A sixth-inning sacrifice fly put the Sooners back in front by three at 9-6.
Both teams scored in the seventh. Gavin Grahovac doubled and scored on a wild pitch to make it 9-7, while Oklahoma capitalized off two free passes with the bases loaded in the bottom half to extend the advantage to 11-7.
In the eighth, Sorrell continued his fine afternoon with his third RBI, courtesy of a double inside the bag at first. Duer delivered once again with two outs and tied the game at 11-11 with a bases-clearing double into the left-field corner. As they did on Friday night, Oklahoma pieced together a rally in the bottom half. A two-out infield single loaded the bases full of Sooners, allowing for a four-pitch walk to bring the go-ahead run home.
Texas A&M went down in order in the ninth and secured the Sunday win, series victory, and second one-run margin of the weekend in favor of the Sooners.
The Maroon and White return to Olsen Field at Blue Bell Park for their next four contests, welcoming Texas State (12-7, 0-3 Sun Belt) on St. Patrick’s Day (Tuesday, Mar. 17) and a ranked Georgia (17-4, 2-1 SEC) for the first conference series at home this season.
