HOOVER, Alabama – Trailing 5-3 with the game in the waning moments, senior J.B. Moss and junior Nick Banks delivered seventh inning heroics to turn the tide as the No. 2 Texas A&M Aggies rolled to a 12-5 win over the No. 1 Florida Gators in the SEC Baseball Tournament championship game Sunday at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium.
The victory gives the Aggies’ their first ever SEC Baseball Tournament crown and the sixth league tournament title in school history.
Trailing by two with one out in the seventh, Hunter Melton hustled out an infield single and Austin Homan reached on an error by third baseman Jonathan India. Moss tied the game by blasting a first-pitch offering down the leftfield line for a double and Banks put the Aggies up 7-5 when he blasted the next pitch towards the rightfield scoreboard getting his second home run of the game.
Moss added a three-run double in the eighth as the Aggies put up five more runs. The senior outfielder finished the game with a SEC Tournament championship game record five RBI, going 3-for-5 with two doubles, three runs and five RBI.
Banks, named the Tournament MVP, finished the game 3-for-5 with two home runs and three RBI.
Others named to the All-Tournament Team included DH Jonathan Moroney, 2B Ryne Birk, SS Austin Homan and P Brigham Hill.
Andrew Vinson (4-2) earned the win in relief as he retired nine of the 11 batters he faced in innings seven through nine. The only two baserunners reached on errors. He recorded five strikeouts. Turner Larkins was solid in the start, allowing four runs, two earned on five hits and three walks while striking out four in 5.1 innings.
The Aggies captured SWC Tournament titles in 1986 and ‘89 and Big 12 Tournament crowns in 2007, ’10 and ’11.
The victory gives Texas A&M an automatic bid to the NCAA Championship. This extends the Aggies' school-record streak of appearances in the NCAA Championship to 10 consecutive seasons and the 32nd overall selection to the tournament field.
2016 SEC Baseball All-Tournament Team
P: Scott Moss, Florida
P: Brigham Hill, Texas A&
P: Zac Houston, Mississippi State
C: Henri Lartigue, Ole Miss
DH: Jonathan Moroney, Texas A&M
1B: JJ Schwarz, Florida
2B: Ryne Birk, Texas A&M
3B: Colby Bortles, Ole Misw
SS: Austin Homan, Texas A&M
OF: Nick Banks, Texas A&M
OF: J.B. Woodman, Ole Miss
OF: Bryan Reynolds, Vanderbilt
Most Valuable Player: Nick Banks, Texas A&M
