After suffering its first loss of the season on Friday night in Gainesville, the Texas A&M baseball team earned redemption against Florida with a victory to tie the series.
The Aggies (17-1 SEC) defeated the Gators (11-7, 1-1) by a final score of 10-6 on Saturday evening in Game 2 of the three-game set at Condron Ballpark. With the win, Texas A&M coach Jim Schlossnagle tallied his 100th victory in Aggieland, a few weeks after racking up his 900th overall win.
Junior right fielder Braden Montgomery got the Aggies off to a hot start with a 3-run homer to right field in the top of the first inning. Florida tied the contest in the bottom half of the frame.
Texas A&M scored 5 runs in the top of the third, kick-started by 2 solo home runs to left from underclassmen dynamic duo, freshman third baseman Gavin Grahovac and sophomore center fielder Jace LaViolette. The Gators avoided a shutdown inning by tallying 2 runs in the bottom half but still trailed 8-5 after three innings.
In the top of the ninth, junior shortstop Ali Camarillo hit a 2-run single to right giving the Aggies some insurance. Florida scored once in the bottom half of the inning and ultimately lost 10-6.
Junior right-handed pitcher Tanner Jones started on the bump and got roughed up. He tallied 2.1 innings pitched, 5 hits, 5 runs, 2 walks and 1 hit by pitch with 2 strikeouts on 50 pitches.
Senior left-handed pitcher Evan Aschenbeck (3-0) took over in relief for Jones and earned the victory by dealing. He tossed 4.0 scoreless frames and allowed 4 hits & 1 walk with 6 Ks on 68 pitches. Sophomore LHP Shane Sdao threw the final 1.2 innings to pick up his first save of 2024.
The SEC rivals will battle for the series win on Sunday with first pitch set for 12 p.m. CST.
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