Category: Mississippi State Bulldogs

Texas A&M junior defensive lineman will transfer to Mississippi State

Former Texas A&M defensive lineman Malick Sylla will transfer to Mississippi State

Texas A&M’s defensive line suffered after several reserve players entered the transfer portal, including long-armed Edge Malick Sylla, who failed to find consistent playing time despite his random spurts of pass rush success.

Credit to Sylla. He endured a coaching change while having to adapt to Coach Mike Elko and defensive coordinator Jay Bateman’s scheme while playing behind one of the deeper defensive lines in the country.

Even though, at least on paper, Sylla would have seen more playing time after the departures of defensive linemen Nic Scourton, Shemar Stewart, and Shemar Turner next season, he would have likely still been a rotational player and is looking to start with just one year of eligibility remaining.

On Sunday, Sylla announced that he would stay in the SEC and transfer to Mississippi State for his final season, but a starting job with the Bulldogs is not guaranteed.

Sylla’s 6-6 frame and notable strength and versatility showed up in spurts when he was given the opportunity. Still, after playing under two different regimes, the junior is looking to make a final impact with a different team that will eventually get him noticed by NFL scouts.

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Coach Mike Elko squashes any rumors regarding Texas A&M faking injuries for an advantage

“It was a kid having to stop the game because there was no other way to stop the game, not because we were giving ourselves an advantage.”

As the Texas A&M football head coach, Mike Elko has to address a great many topics, including what legendary coach Nick Saban describes as “rat poison.”

That was certainly the case to begin this week. During his weekly press conference ahead of this weekend’s matchup at Mississippi State, Elko had to answer whether Aggies intentionally fake being hurt.

“Do we condone faking injury? No,” Elko said Monday afternoon. “At times, it was a kid having to stop the game because there was no other way to stop the game, not necessarily because we were giving ourselves an advantage.”

Being a defensive guy at heart, Elko went on to mention that defenders are at a higher risk for injuries due to collegiate squads running up-tempo, fast offenses. However, he added that players faking injuries is a “bad look” for college football as a whole.

The No. 14 Aggies (5-1, 3-0 SEC) return from their bye Saturday afternoon to play at Davis Wade Stadium versus the Bulldogs at 3:15 p.m. CT on SEC Network.

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Texas A&M football team to travel the third furthest among SEC programs

During Mike Elko’s first year as the football head coach, Texas A&M will have to travel the third furthest among the 16 programs in the SEC.

During Mike Elko‘s first season as the football head coach in College Station, Texas A&M will have to travel the third furthest among the 16 programs in the Southeastern Conference.

According to bookies.com, the Aggies will rack up over 5796 miles this year traveling to only four road games. The only SEC squads that have to go further is LSU and Mizzou. The respective Tigers from Louisiana and Missouri each travel long distances for non-conference contests. Therefore, Texas A&M is traveling the furthest for its SEC games.

Texas A&M‘s longest route is 1847 miles to Columbia, South Carolina for a matchup versus the Gamecocks. The Aggies’ closest away contest is still pretty far, 967 miles away in Starkville against Mississippi State. Per BetMGM, Texas A&M has the eighth best odds to win the conference at +2000.

When it comes to the Aggies’ SEC opponents this year, they rank in the following order regarding miles traveled: LSU (1st), Mizzou (2nd), Texas (4th), Mississippi State (5th), South Carolina (8th), Florida (12th), Arkansas (13th) and Auburn (16th).

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Mississippi State adds commitment from Penn State transfer Kanye Clary

The Mississippi State Bulldogs landed a commitment in the transfer portal from Penn State guard Kanye Clary.

Mississippi State head coach Chris Jans and the Bulldogs picked up a big commitment via the transfer portal, as former Penn State guard Kanye Clary has committed to the program.

Clary, who was at Penn State the past two seasons, is coming off a breakout 2023-24 campaign in which he started 20-of-23 games, and averaged 16.7 PPG, 2.9 RPG, 2.8 APG, and 1 SPG for the Nittany Lions. The guard also shot an impressive 37.7% from three, as well as 46.2% from the field and 81.1% from the free throw line.

Prior to this past season, Clary appeared in 32 games off Penn State’s bench as a freshman, averaging 10.4 MPG. Over that season, Clary averaged 3.7 PPG on 43.4% shooting from the field, as well as 70% from the free throw line.

Clary is the first transfer commitment for Mississippi State this offseason, and is likely to play a significant role in 2024-25 for a Bulldogs team that could easily return to the NCAA Tournament.

Braden Montgomery & Justin Lamkin recap Texas A&M’s first SEC series victory of the season

“It was great getting the love and support from my teammates and all of the 12th Man. It was something that was surreal and really cool.”

Led by 7.1 dominant innings on the mound from sophomore left-handed pitcher Justin Lamkin and 2 home runs from junior outfielder Braden Montgomery, the Texas A&M baseball team earned its first SEC series win this weekend

After the victory versus Mississippi State on Saturday afternoon, both Aggies spoke to the media.

“I think it’s always more impressive to be able to drive to the back side so I would say the first (homer) was my favorite,” Montgomery said. “I was trusting in everything that I’ve built up to this moment. Being able to see and react to what I’m seeing and I got a lot of fastballs. That’s what I enjoy swinging at so it was very fun.”

Lamkin struggled on the bump last weekend at Florida but clearly shook it off prior to Saturday’s start.

“It was great getting the love and support from my teammates and all of the 12th Man. It was something that was surreal and really cool to get to experience that,” Lamkin recalled. “It was not the first time but that (ovation) was extra loud, you could tell.

“I’d say overall fastball command (was the difference). That’s one thing that coach Walsh told me after the outing,” Lamkin explained. “So I took this week to work on that and I think it played out being able to throw the fastball where I want and establish all the plate.”

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‘Star player in star moments’: Jim Schlossnagle speaks to media after Texas A&M’s first SEC series victory

“Today (Lamkin) had that fastball command,” Schlossnagle said. “Then Braden, what more do you need to say? A star player in star moments.”

The Texas A&M baseball team earned its first SEC series victory of the season with a 6-1 win versus Mississippi State at Blue Bell Park.

Following the triumph, head coach Jim Schlossnagle spoke about the impact sophomore left-handed pitcher Justin Lamkin and junior outfielder Braden Montgomery made on Saturday’s game.

“Obviously, awesome days for Lamkin and Braden,” Schlossnagle said. “I’m super proud of Justin, he didn’t have the greatest start to the season and then last week was a little bit better.

“The thing that he did for us all last year is have good fastball command and his offspeed pitches were a little short. This year, his offspeed pitches are much better but his fastball command kind of went away from him. Today he had that fastball command, especially in against those good right-handed hitters like Jordan and the other right-handed guy. Kudos to him, he was awesome and I was trying to ride him as much as I could because I felt like he earned it. Sometimes that helps boost a pitcher’s ego when you do that.

“Then Braden, what more do you need to say? A star player in star moments.”

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Texas A&M softball wins third straight SEC series beating No. 25 Auburn in the first two games

The Aggies are off to their best start since the 2018 season in SEC play

Texas A&M (27-4, 7-1 SEC) defeated No. 25 Auburn (15-8, 2-6 SEC) in the first two games of the series, outscoring the Tigers 8-3.

Head coach Trisha Ford has the Aggies off to the best start in the SEC since the 2018 season. On top of starting 7-1 in league play, all three teams they beat are ranked in the Top 25: No. 22 South Carolina, No. 21 Mississippi State, and No. 25 Auburn.

This squad is also getting the job done differently, with 1-9 of the line all being dangerous from the plate. The Aggies have a great mix of power and speed that allows them to have different offensive strategies that were missing last year.

The defense has also been playing extremely well, with just a few errors on the season, which has been the main reason their four losses have been one-point games. There has yet to be a game this season where a team has blown the Aggies out of the water. They are quick in the infield, and the outfield has shown several times that they all have the capability to throw out runners at home.

Day one:

Texas A&M vs Auburn / Win / 5-1

  • Total offense:  5 hits, 5 runs
  • Pitching: Emiley Kennedy W (14-3): 7.0 innings, 4 Ks, 116 pitches.

Day two:

Texas A&M vs Auburn / Win / 3-2

  • Total offense:  3 hits, 5 runs
  • Pitching: Shaylee Ackerman W (6-1): 7.0 innings, 2 Ks, 96 pitches.

Texas A&M will wrap up the series at Davis Diamond on Sunday, March 24, at 1 p.m. CT.

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No. 6 Texas A&M baseball team earns first SEC series victory with Game 3 win vs. Mississippi State

For the first time in the young 2024 season, the Aggies have earned a three-game conference series victory following a 6-1 win on Sunday.

For the first time in the young 2024 season, the Texas A&M baseball team has earned a three-game conference series victory.

The No. 6 Aggies (21-3, 3-3 SEC) beat Mississippi State (17-8, 3-3) by a final score of 6-1 on Saturday at Blue Bell Park to take two out of three games from the Bulldogs. Texas A&M won 6-3 on Friday but its offense fell flat Friday, losing 5-1. The Aggies scored once in the first, fifth, sixth & seventh, respectively, and 2 in the fourth.

Sophomore left-handed pitcher Justin Lamkin (2-0) earned the win by absolutely dominating in the series finale. He tossed 7.1 innings and allowed 2 hits, 1 run & 1 walk with 12 strikeouts on 104 pitches. Senior LHP Evan Aschenbeck pitched the final 1.2 innings and gave up 1 hit with 2 Ks on 19 pitches.

Junior outfielder Braden Montgomery crushed 2 home runs. Freshman OF Caden Sorrell joined him with two extra-base hits, smashing a solo homer and a double.

Texas A&M continues its eight-game homestand at Olsen Field on Tuesday at 6 p.m. against Houston Christian University before hosting Auburn for a three-game set beginning Thursday.

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No. 6 Texas A&M baseball team’s offense stalls in Game 2 loss against Mississippi State

The Aggies suffered their first home loss following a 5-1 defeat. The Bulldogs tallied 5 runs in the fifth, 3 of which came off one swing.

While the Texas A&M men’s and women’s basketball teams respectively battled Nebraska in the NCAA Tournament on Friday, the baseball team dealt with its own version of March Madness as its offense stalled in a loss against Mississippi State.

The No. 6 Aggies (20-3, 2-3) suffered their first home loss of the season following a 5-1 defeat against the Bulldogs (17-7, 3-2) at Blue Bell Park. Mississippi State tallied 5 runs in the fifth frame, with 3 of them coming off one swing from junior first baseman Hunter Hines.

Texas A&M scored its lone run in the second inning on an RBI single by junior shortstop Ali Camarillo, who was the only Aggie to record multiple hits, going 2-for-4. Freshman third baseman Gavin Grahovac has now reached base safely in 12 consecutive contests and has at least 1 hit in 8 straight games.

Junior right-handed pitcher Tanner Jones (1-1) took the loss after pitching the first 4.0 innings and allowing 5 hits, 2 runs, 2 hit by pitch and 1 walk with 2 strikeouts on 72 pitches.

Texas A&M hosts the Bulldogs for a rubber match at Olsen Field on Saturday at 2 p.m. CST.

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Texas A&M underclassmen Gavin Grahovac & Ryan Prager recap Game 1 win vs. Mississippi State

“All these (SEC) guys are big and physical. It’s been fun, we have a great group of guys and are going to continue to compete every day.”

The No. 6 Texas A&M baseball team beat Mississippi State 6-3 on Thursday at Blue Bell Park

Sophomore redshirt left-handed pitcher Ryan Prager bounced back from a tough start last Friday at Florida to start SEC play.

“It’s always good to get to play again. The problem with being a starting pitcher is you have to wait a week,” Prager explained. “I’m just really excited that we got the game in tonight and are starting to stick with our plan. Last week, it’s not like anything went terribly wrong, we just got hit around. That’s going to happen, it just happened to be the first one and it all came together. We just stuck to our plan and saw everything work the first four weeks and again tonight.”

Freshman third baseman Gavin Grahovac has adjusted quickly to playing SEC baseball, crushing two homers to begin the Bulldogs series.

“It’s been fun, man. All these (SEC) guys are big and physical. Everyone throws hard and hits. It’s been fun, we have a great group of guys and are going to continue to compete every day,” Grahovac said. “Both (homers), I’m just happy they got out. Did something for the team, was able to get runs going, so we all played great tonight.”

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