Tag: sec baseball

No. 2 Arkansas rallies past Texas Tech for midweek sweep

Arkansas Baseball: The Arkansas Razorbacks mixed timely hitting with clutch pitching and defense to earn a two-game series sweep of Texas Tech Wednesday at Baum-Walker Stadium.

One day after a thrilling 9-8 come-from-behind victory that featured a combined 23 hits, No. 2 Arkansas mixed timely hitting with clutch pitching and defense to earn a 5-4 victory over Texas Tech Wednesday at Baum-Walker Stadium.

The Razorbacks (32-5 overall) tallied only four hits in Wednesday’s game but made the most of them.

Arkansas got on the board right away when Peyton Stovall led off the bottom of the first with a 406-foot home run to right off Hudson Parker.

Nolan Souza led off the second inning with a solo shot, a 376-foot blast over the left field bullpen that allowed the Razorbacks to reclaim the lead at 2-1 after Texas Tech had tied it.

The Red Raiders (26-12) grabbed their first lead of the day on a two-run ground-rule double to right field from Kevin Bazzell in the third inning.

Things stayed quiet until the sixth inning when Arkansas reclaimed the lead. Ben McLaughlin singled down the right field line to put runners at the corners with one away for Wehiwa Aloy, who smacked an RBI single to left to tie the game.

Two batters later, Jack Wagner gave the Hogs the lead with an RBI sac fly to deep center, scoring McLaughlin for a 4-3 lead.

In the eighth, Arkansas loaded the bases without a hit off Texas Tech reliever Max Huffling. With two outs, Jayson Jones was hit by a pitch to force in a run to extend the Razorbacks’ lead to 5-3.

Stone Hewlett allowed a long two-out solo home run to Cade McGee that trimmed the lead to 5-4 in the ninth. Hewlett then rallied to strike out pitch-hitter Garet Boehm on three pitches to nail down his third save and finish off the two-game series sweep.

Cooper Dossett earned the win in relief for Arkansas with 2 2/3 scoreless innings. Dossett (2-0) struck out two and retired eight of the nine batters he faced. Razorbacks pitchers combined for five innings of one-run ball in relief. They surrendered just one hit, McGee’s ninth-inning home run.

Derek Bridges (0-1) suffered the loss in relief for Texas Tech.

Colin Fisher received a no-decision after making his seventh start of the season and his third straight in a midweek game. The freshman left-hander allowed three runs (two earned) on five hits in four innings.

NEXT UP

Arkansas travels to South Carolina for a weekend series in SEC play. The Gamecocks are ranked No. 20 in the latest D1Baseball poll. Friday’s first pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. CDT and game be seen on SEC Network+.

NCBWA names Texas A&M RHP Chris Cortez as one of the Howser Trophy National Players of the Week

Texas A&M junior pitcher Chris Cortez was named the NCBWA Pitcher of the Week after a going 2-0 on the week

Texas A&M pitcher Chris Cortez earn his second player of the week honor with The National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) naming their Howser Trophy National Players of the Week.

Cortez was named the pitcher of the week after a solid week of work in the midweek game and his relief appearance in game three against Vanderbilt.

The NCBWA recognized the junior’s production after the big week by naming him one of the Howser Trophy National Players of the Week. Below is the release excerpt from their website:

“Cortez, who earned his first career weekly honor, was brilliant in relief for Texas A&M as the junior tossed 8.1 scoreless innings, struck out a league-best 15 batters and logged a 2-0 record. In Tuesday’s win over UTSA, the Las Vegas, Nevada, native struck out seven over four scoreless frames as the Aggies completed the comeback. On Sunday, the junior calmed the early surge from No. 6 Vanderbilt and delivered 4.1 scoreless innings to go along with a career-high tying eight strikeouts. Cortez also only allowed three hits and two walks in his two appearances.

The two victories improved Cortez to 5-1 on the year and lowered his ERA to 2.32. The junior also upped his strikeout total to 47 in only 31 innings”

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Auburn’s ‘snake-bitten’ season continues following Kentucky series

Auburn enters the second half of the SEC slate with a 2-13 record in conference play. Will they be able to turn it around before heading to Hoover next month?

Starting the SEC campaign with a 2-13 record is not what Auburn baseball and head coach [autotag]Butch Thompson[/autotag] had in mind. The Tigers were swept for the third time in conference play last week to No. 5 Kentucky, a series where the Wildcats outscored the Tigers by seven runs.

Although Kentucky completed the sweep, it was a series that could have gone the other way. Auburn had two runners on base with zero outs in game one on Thursday, but a strikeout and a double play ended the Tigers’ comeback efforts in a 6-5 loss. In Saturday’s finale, Auburn held a 7-0 lead before the Wildcats stormed back to win 13-8.

The sweep added to Auburn’s long losing streak, which currently stands at six games. Their recent string of bad luck appeared in this week’s SEC Baseball Vibes rankings by Joe Healy of D1Baseball. The “snake-bitten” Tigers check in at No. 14 this week.

There’s always at least one team in the SEC that goes through the season as a snakebitten team where very little seems to go right, and it’s looking increasingly like Auburn is that team in 2024. Its lineup has been good enough more often than not, but it has the highest ERA in the conference in league play and those struggles on the mound were on display Sunday when the Tigers led 7-0 over Kentucky in the third inning and went on to lose the game. Auburn will continue to be a tough out the rest of the way, but it might have just taken on too much water at this point.

The Tigers will look to change its luck as the stretch turns to the final 15 games. Auburn will face the likes of struggling teams such as Missouri and LSU over the final five weekends and will look to increase their seeding before next month’s SEC Tournament in Hoover.

The first series of the second half will be against Mississippi State this weekend at Dudy Noble Field in Starkville. The Bulldogs check in at No. 8 in this week’s vibes rankings after losing a tough series to rival Ole Miss.

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‘No words to describe them’: Texas A&M freshman Gavin Grahovac left speechless by 12th Man

“Unbelievable, there are literally no words to describe them. They bring the energy every single game no matter how many people are here.”

The Texas A&M baseball team has become the No. 1 team in the nation due to countless contributions from upperclassmen but there have been several underclassmen who have also stood out.

At the top of that list is freshman third baseman Gavin Grahovac, who bats at the top of the order.

“I think it was from one to nine. Every guy did it, every guy was hitting the ball great, we all saw it great. I don’t know, we just came out and wanted to compete. That’s what we continue wanting to do and what we continue planning to do,” Grahovac said postgame on Sunday. “Vandy is a historically great team. Coach Corbin is a great coach and all of those players are great. In the SEC, you can’t expect nothing less than greatness from every team so we have to come out here and compete.

“Coach always tells us to keep playing because the game isn’t over until it’s over.”

Grahovac was left speechless by the 12th Man’s attendance this weekend during a three-game SEC sweep of No. 12 Vanderbilt.

“Unbelievable, I don’t know if you guys saw my tweet but there are literally no words to describe them,” Grahovac told the media. “They bring the energy every single game no matter how many people are here. Obviously, we had some big crowds this weekend so that was awesome. There are no words to describe them, they are absolutely amazing.”

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‘We play to a standard, not a scoreboard’: Texas A&M RHP Chris Cortez recaps sweep of Vanderbilt

“It’s a luxury that we have guys that go out there and eat up innings. We have a lot more guys in the bullpen who can help the team win.”

Texas A&M junior right-handed pitcher Chris Cortez has been lights out as of late, and his success can be attributed to a new mindset of having fun on a game to game basis.

“The Tuesday game has nothing to do with today. I was happy about Tuesday but I’ve moved on from it. I know the best version of myself is having fun and it all starts in the bullpen. When I’m having fun, that’s when I’m at my best,” Cortez explained to the media on Sunday. “I don’t look at the scoreboard. Like Schloss says, ‘We play to a standard, not a scoreboard.’ We go one pitch at a time and that’s all I was saying. I didn’t know what the score was, what inning we’re in, I was barely paying attention to our hitters. I’m just focused on doing my job.

“I think it’s a luxury that we have guys that can go out there and eat up innings. But if they aren’t having their day, we have a lot more guys in the bullpen who can go out there and help the team win.”

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SEC names freshman third baseman Gavin Grahovac as Freshman of the Week

Texas A&M freshman third baseman Gavin Grahovac was named the SEC Freshman of the Week after a strong series against Vanderbilt

Texas A&M freshman Gavin Grahovac has taken charge of the starting third base position and is one of the better lead-off hitters in all of college baseball. He currently sits in the top ten in the SEC for the following categories: No. 4 runs scored (49), No. 10 hits (49), No. 11 doubles, No. 11 home runs and No. 7 RBI (42).

The SEC recognized the freshman’s production after the big week by naming him SEC Freshman Player of the Week. Below is the excerpt from the release from the SEC officials:

Texas A&M’s Gavin Grahovac registered a .400/.526/.867 slash line to help the Aggies to a 4-0 record, including a sweep of No. 5 Vanderbilt. The freshman homered twice, drove in three RBI, scored eight times and drew four walks during the week. Both of his homers came on the weekend, and he registered three hits in the series finale on Sunday.

 

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No. 1 Texas A&M baseball team swept ‘of one of the best programs in our sport,’ per coach Jim Schlossnagle

“We needed five pitchers in a three game sweep of one of the best programs in our sport. I thought I was super proud of our guys,” he said.

Following a dominant three-game sweep of SEC rival Vanderbilt this weekend at Blue Bell Park, the Texas A&M baseball team is now ranked as the No. 1 team in the nation.

After Sunday’s series finale, head coach Jim Schlossnagle spoke to the media about how good the Aggies pitching staff was against the Commodores.

“We needed five pitchers in a three game sweep of one of the best programs in our sport,” Schlossnagle said. “It speaks to how well we pitched and how well we obviously swung the bat. We had one game that was shorter than nine innings and had firm command of the second game. I thought I was super proud of our guys.

“With the arms we faced today, the starter, throwing 100 hundred miles an hour, he pitched well and McElvain is really good. You saw that we really battled. Obviously, when they gave us an extra out in that one inning and Camarillo, that was the swing of the day.

“You look the way that the ballpark is playing and you just never know with any lead.”

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SEC names Texas A&M RHP Chris Cortez co-Pitcher of the Week

Texas A&M junior pitcher Chris Cortez was named the SEC Co-Pitcher of the Week after a going 2-0 on the week

Power pitcher Chris Cortez is not in the weekend rotation but has found a home has a midweek starter. Along with that, position coaches Jim Schlossnagle and Max Wiener have called upon Cortez for some relief work on the weekend.

In 11 appearances he has a 5-1 record with three saves and a 2.32 ERA. In a noticeable improvement, he already has 47 strikeouts to 14 walks and batters are averaging .221 against him to this point in the season. Removing himself from the transfer portal and trusting the new pitching coach seems to have been the right move.

The SEC recognized the junior’s production after the big week by naming him SEC co-Pitcher of the Week. Below is the release excerpt from the SEC officials:

Texas A&M’s Chris Cortez went 2-0 on the week, totaling 8.1 scoreless innings and punching out a league-best 15 batters. In Tuesday’s win over UTSA, Cortez struck out seven over four scoreless frames as the Aggies completed the comeback against the Roadrunners. On Sunday, Cortez calmed the early surge from No. 5 Vanderbilt and delivered 4.1 scoreless innings to go along with a career-high tying eight punchouts.

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‘This place would be a boombox’: Texas A&M OF Hayden Schott explains Blue Bell Park’s new anthem

“(Jace and I) were like ‘Dude, if we got a whole crowd in on that and played it every run or something, this place would be a boombox!'”

On its way to becoming the No. 1 team in the nation this weekend with a sweep of SEC rival Vanderbilt, the Texas A&M baseball team recently found a new tune to groove to every time an Aggie scores a run.

After the series finale against the Commodores, graduate student outfielder Hayden Schott was asked about the origin of the team’s fondness for the song “Rattlin’ Bog” by the Irish Descendants.

“Me and Jace LaViolette, they were playing it at South Carolina on the speakers and we were like ‘Dude, if we got a whole crowd in on that, and played it every run or something, this place would be a boombox!’ So then Friday night, obviously we had a great baseball game, it just added so much to the crowd I felt like,” Schott recalled. “Everyone was so loud.

“I think now that we won, they can’t take it away, so I’m going to have a word with coach about that. I’ll just make sure that he doesn’t end this streak. I’ll probably have a word with him tomorrow during our media meeting with me and him.”

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Auburn baseball fails to receive votes in the latest USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll following Kentucky series

The Tigers look to turn things around during the second half of SEC play.

Auburn baseball’s struggles continued last weekend as the Tigers suffered a sweep at the hands of the red-hot Kentucky Wildcats. The Wildcats, who boast an impressive 14-1 SEC record, won a tight game over Auburn in game one of the series before winning the final two games by a comfortable margin.

The series win moves Kentucky to the No. 5 spot in this week’s USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll, a three-spot increase from last week’s rankings. As for Auburn, they are out of poll consideration for the third week in a row.

The SEC is represented by eight programs, with four of the top five teams belonging to the conference. Texas A&M is the nation’s new No. 1 team after sweeping then-No. 6 Vanderbilt in College Station. The sweep drops Vanderbilt to No. 13 in this week’s poll. The Aggies jumped Arkansas for the No. 1 spot after the Razorbacks suffered a series loss to No. 14 Alabama over the weekend.

Tennessee moves one spot to No. 3 after sweeping LSU in Knoxville, and Alabama moves to No. 14 following its series win over No. 2 Arkansas. South Carolina and Georgia enter this week’s polls after successful weekends over Florida and Missouri respectively.

Auburn baseball looks to get back on track this weekend by facing Mississippi State on the road beginning Friday. The Bulldogs received 23 votes in this week’s poll.

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