Aggie pitching issues 10 free passes in high-scoring loss
Game #19: No. 9 Oklahoma 12, No. 22 Texas A&M 11
Records: Texas A&M (16-3, 1-2), Oklahoma (17-3, 2-1)
WP: Jason Bodin (3-0)
LP: Grant Cunningham (0-1)
Box Score
The Aggies earned it on Sunday.
Just not in the way they had hoped.
Issuing six free passes in the last two innings of a rubber match at Norman’s Kimrey Family Stadium, No. 22 Texas A&M fell to No. 9 Oklahoma in a high-scoring 12-11 affair.
With enough offense to steal a three-game set from a top-10 opponent, the Aggie pitching staff might be forced to walk back to College Station, considering they walked eight in the finale and 17 on the weekend.
Similar to Saturday’s 9-5 triumph, A&M dug itself an early hole as Aiden Sims scuffled through his worst start of the year, allowing eight runs — two of which were unearned — in just 2.2 innings of work.
After two innings, Sims & Co. were down 6-0 as the Aggie starter walked a quartet of Sooners, including the leadoff man in all three of his frames. Of course, each of those leadoff base runners came across to score.
Behind Sims, only Gavin Lyons did not issue a free pass in his three innings of relief as Hunter Vincent walked one and hit two. Juan Vargas issued a bases-loaded walk in the seventh to go along with a hit-by-pitch, and Grant Cunningham allowed the winning run to come across with a two-out bases-loaded walk.
Of the 10 free passes dished out by the Aggies on Sunday, four came around to score.
Fortunately for Jason Kelly’s pitching staff, the A&M offense showed up, or else the 6-0 deficit might have turned into a laugher.
Attacking Oklahoma starter Cord Rager in the third, Terrence Kiel II, Caden Sorrell and Jake Duer had run-scoring singles as the hole was trimmed to two.
Kiel finished 2-for-5, and Sorrell was 3-for-5 with a trio of RBIs. Duer went 2-for-5 with the biggest hit of the day, a bases-clearing three-run double to tie the game 11-11 in the eighth.
Gavin Grahovac and Boston Kellner also had two-hit afternoons, but in the end, the pitching didn’t uphold its end of the bargain.
Oklahoma had traffic in literally every inning. The Sooners accumulated 14 hits as the top four in their lineup — Trey Gambill, Camden Johnson, Brendan Brock and Jaxon Willits — each enjoyed multi-hit games. With relentless offensive pressure, Oklahoma still left 12 men aboard as A&M never pitched a clean bottom half.
Perhaps the dam broke early for eight runs in the first three innings, but whatever patchwork was done sprung leaks late as Oklahoma tacked on a run in the sixth, two more in the seventh and the all-important 12th run in the eighth.
The dozenth run was all former A&M right-hander Jason Bodin needed as he pitched a 1-2-3 ninth and sank his former club to a series loss.
With thin margins in the nation’s best college baseball league, the Aggies weren’t sharp enough and didn’t throw enough strikes to win the three-game set.
Cleaning that up is crucial; otherwise, they’ll earn a few more trips home, like the one this weekend.