COLLEGE STATION – Texas A&M dropped a 14-3 decision in its third game of the College Station Regional Sunday night at Olsen Field at Blue Bell Park.
Chris Hacopian put the Aggies (41-15) on the board first with a solo homer laced 110 miles per hour down the left field line in the first inning. The Trojans (46-16) responded with four runs in the bottom half of the first behind four hits, including a pair of two-RBI doubles.
USC made it a 7-1 ballgame in the third inning with a three-run shot off the bat of Andrew Lamb. A two-run homer in the fourth inning put the Trojans up, 9-1.
Gavin Grahovac chalked a run back for the Maroon & White with a 446-foot home run to left field, cutting the deficit to 9-2. USC extended its advantage to nine in the bottom of the seventh on a two-RBI single.
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The Aggies tacked on a run in the eighth inning on an RBI triple from Jake Duer to make it an 11-3 ballgame.
The Trojans widened the gap in the bottom of the eighth, plating three runs on five hits to seal the final tally at 14-3.
Ethan Darden was tabbed the starter but could only record two outs after allowing four runs on four hits and a walk. Gavin Lyons entered first in relief, tossing 1 1/3 innings and allowing two runs on three hits and a walk. Cooper Powell followed, surrendering three runs, two earned, in two innings pitched. Hunter Vincent, Juan Vargas and Grant Cunningham combined to toss the last four innings. The trio combined for five strikeouts but allowed five runs in the final four frames.
Top players
- Gavin Grahovac – 2-for-4, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 HR
- Jake Duer – 2-for-4, 1 RBI, 1 3B
Scoring summary
T1 | Hacopian roped a two-out solo shot to put the Aggies on the board. A&M 1, USC 0.
B1 | Adrian Lopez singled, followed by a double from Augie Lopez. Kevin Takeuchi brought both runners home with a single up the middle, advancing to second on the throw from the outfield. Isaac Cadena walked, and both runners moved into scoring position on a groundout. Lamb plated both runners with a double down the left field line. A&M 1, USC 4.
B3 | Cadena led off with a double down the right field line, followed by an infield single off the bat of Jack Basseer. Lamb drove a three-run shot to right-center field. A&M 1, USC 7.
B4 | Adrian Lopez reached on a fielding error and Augie Lopez followed with a two-run shot to left-center field. A&M 1, USC 9.
T5 | Grahovac smashed a solo homer to left field. A&M 2, USC 9.
B7 | Basseer and Lamb drew consecutive walks. Dean Carpentier singled to center field to load the bases. Walter Urbon lined a single to left field to bring home a pair of runs. A&M 2, USC 11.
T8 | Partida singled to right field and was brought home on a Duer triple to right-center field. A&M 3, USC 11.
B8 | Augie Lopez and Takeuchi led off the frame with back-to-back singles. Basseer doubled to right-center, plating two runs. He advanced to third on a wild pitch and was brought home on a single by Maddox Riske. A&M 3, USC 14.
Game notes
- Grahovac's 47th career home run ties John Byington for fourth-most in program history. His 22nd home run this year is the seventh most in a single season at Texas A&M.
- The Orange, California, native has homered in all three of the Aggies' games in the College Station Regional.
- He recorded his team-leading 26th multi-hit game in the contest.
- Harrison was hit by a pitch for the 22nd time this season, which stands as the most times an Aggie has been struck by a pitch in a single season. His 34th hit by pitch in the Maroon & White ranks fourth-most all-time in club history.
- The junior catcher has reached base safely in 31 consecutive games.
- Sorrell stole his team-leading 11th base and extended his hitting streak to 10 games.
- Royo extended his hitting streak to nine games.
Quotes
Head coach Michael Earley on the team's mindset after a tough loss and looking ahead to tomorrow:
"We've been here all year. It's happened, and we've responded. My trust and my belief in these guys, the whole team, and the staff is there, we're ready to go. I'm going to flush this thing here in about five minutes. We're going to move forward, come out tomorrow, and get to play in front of our home crowd. What more could you want? We never want to lose, that always sucks but it is what it is. It's baseball. They beat us, period, from the first pitch. But we've got a game tomorrow, and we're excited to get out there."
"If there's any day to show up, it's tomorrow. The season's on the line. But at the end of the day, it's nothing we haven't done all year. Show up and respond. So that was the message after the game, show up, give your best effort, and play our brand of baseball like we say every single day. We've got to get runners on, we've got to move them over, we've got to pitch well, and we've got to do all the things right in order to win a game tomorrow. If we want to keep this season going, we've got to do the right thing tomorrow."
