Arkansas Gets Revenge, Secures SEC West Over Texas A&M With Game 2 Victory

COLLEGE STATION — It took one inning Friday evening for the score between the Texas A&M Aggies and Arkansas Razorbacks to exceed what it was in the series opener.

After a complete pitcher’s battle between both squads Thursday night amidst a rain delay, Game 2 of the SEC West showdown was seemingly going to be much simpler to complete. Weather wasn’t going to be at play and 7 p.m. CST was truly an accurate assessment for the game’s first pitch.

For the Aggies, Olsen Field was even more packed than it was the night before, setting them up to have an even better atmosphere as they looked to secure a series victory and keep themselves in contention for their half of the SEC. Arkansas had some ground to make up.

The thing was, it did.

The Razorbacks came out with their bats swinging, keeping the contest interesting on offense despite allowing some true — that is, non-walking — points on defense. In the end, they got the best of their hosts, rallying behind a three-run home run from junior Hudson White to put themselves in front and take control of the momentum, ultimately notching a 6-3 road victory.

From the jump, the Aggies — starting Brad Rudis instead of the anticipated Justin Lamkin — started off on a positive note. They registered a strikeout and two flyouts to end their defensive portion of the first inning rather quickly before scoring two runs in the bottom half behind Braden Montgomery’s 25th home run of the season, which put them up 2-0.

From there, the Razorbacks began chipping away at the lead, notching two one-run innings in the second and third to tie the game up headed to the fourth. Where Game 1 was a pitching battle, Game 2 was shaping up to be a battle of the bats. And that continued.

Texas A&M added another run to its total in the bottom of the fourth after Gavin Grahovac doubled on the first pitch he was thrown. From there, Jace LaViolette singled to right field with enough distance to bring in Grahovac. That run signaled the bubbles across Blue Bell Park and gave the Aggies the lead once more, but unfortunately for them, it was the last run they would score that night.

The fifth and sixth innings saw little action besides Arkansas’ methodical base approach. After a single from Ben McLaughlin brought in Peyton Stovall — who singled on his at-bat — to tie the game at three runs a piece, the Razorbacks stalled out before being able to run up the score anymore.

Three runs each was how the scoreboard held for the remainder of the sixth and through the seventh, but the eighth inning was where the most action happened all game.

Stovall ended up being the lead-off single on his second pitch of the at-bat, which Wehiwa Aloy followed with a double. Stovall moved to third, but it didn’t matter. Hudson White came to bat and hit a home run to deep left field to both double the Aggies’ score and his team’s chances at a win.

Texas A&M made nothing of its eighth-inning offensive, and Arkansas followed suit at the top of the ninth. After that third out, the Aggies’ War Hymm played and the entire upper deck of fans got on their feet to watch the final three outs of the ball game.

Ali Camarillo led things off, striking out looking after a full count, followed by Sorrell, who never landed a ball as he grounded out to Arkansas’ shortstop. Travis Chesnut — batting bottom of the Aggies’ order — was his team’s last chance, but couldn’t get the job done, flying out to left field to give the Razorbacks a 6-3 win on the road.

With the loss, the Texas A&M Aggies fall two games behind the Arkansas Razorbacks in the SEC West standings with just one game left to play at 18-11, which officially ousts them from contention for the conference title.

Next up for both squads is one more matchup at Olsen Field with the series on the line. The winner there will certainly put themselves in a solid position to land a top-3 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

First pitch for Game 3 is scheduled for 2 p.m. CST Saturday afternoon.