COLLEGE STATION, Texas (KRHD) — Texas A&M baseball dropped game 6 of the College Station Regional to USC 14-3 Sunday, forcing the Aggies into an elimination game Monday night at 8 p.m.
USC jumped on Texas A&M starter Ethan Darden early, plating 4 runs in the bottom of the first inning. The Trojans never looked back, building the lead to 9-1 through four innings before the Aggies could respond.
USC starter Andrew Johnson held Texas A&M in check throughout his outing, limiting the Aggies to 1 run on 3 hits while striking out 4 batters.
Chris Hacopian gave Texas A&M an early 1-0 lead with a home run to left field in the top of the first inning. USC answered immediately, with a pair of two run doubles taking the 4-1 lead after one.
The Trojans extended the lead in the third inning off a 3-run home run to right field, pushing the score to 7-1. USC added 2 more runs in the fourth on a home run.
Grahovac hit a solo home run to left field in the top of the fifth to cut the deficit to 9-2. It was his 22nd home run of the season. USC responded with 2 more runs in the seventh and 3 in the eighth to put the game out of reach.
Jake Duer tripled home a run in the top of the eighth to account for Texas A&M's third run of the game, but the Aggies could not generate enough offense to mount a comeback.
Head coach Michael Earley said the team's energy before the game was not the issue.
"Energy was fine. It was the same as it normally is. Baseball is a sport where your energy and whatever, we're fine. Our guys have been prepared all year to play. They're ready to play. They just got out on us, right? And their guy did a good job on the mound. Credit to them. They kept us from scoring, and they scored a lot, and we didn't. So that was the story of the game," Earley said.
Earley said Johnson was effective when it mattered most.
"That guy did a great job. We hit some balls hard and didn't have anything to show for it, but we didn't get hits with the guys in scoring position. So he did exceptionally well when guys were on base. I thought the at-bats were fine. I'm not sure. I mean, he struck us out 4 times. I thought we found some barrels. They found some gloves, but no discredit to him. He did a great job," Earley said.
On Darden's outing, Earley said the early damage set the tone.
"They just got on him early, right? I think he hung a slider. I don't even know if he hung the slider. It's pretty far off the plate, it looked like. Guy got it in the gap and just kind of unraveled from there," Earley said.
Duer said the offense needs to stay disciplined at the plate going into Monday's elimination game.
"I feel like pitchers are pitchers. They want to get their pitch and I feel like he was just getting his pitches, but as an offense, we just gotta do better at just being able to just swing at strikes. I feel like there were a couple of times we kind of went out of our approach and that caused some issues, but other than that, I think our guys did what we needed to do," Duer said.
Earley said the pitching staff will be all hands on deck for Monday's game and that a decision on a starter has not yet been made.
"There's many different options, and I'll get in there and I'll make a decision based on what I think gives us the best chance to win," Earley said.
"My trust, my belief in these guys and the whole team and the staff, we're ready to go. I'm gonna flush this thing here in about 5 minutes. We're gonna move forward and we're gonna come out tomorrow and get a play in front of our home crowd and what more could you want, man? What more could you want? We never want to lose, we never want to get our ass kicked. That always sucks, but it is what it is. It's baseball. They beat us, period, from the freaking first pitch. But we got a game tomorrow and we're excited to get out there," Earley said.
Texas A&M's season continues Monday night at 8 p.m. A loss would end the Aggies' season.
