Texas A&M baseball heads to Hoover as No. 3 seed, eyes SEC Tournament run before NCAA Regionals

COLLEGE STATION, Texas (KRHD) — Texas A&M baseball enters the SEC Tournament as the No. 3 seed, riding momentum from a regular season series win and carrying cautious optimism as the program balances competing to win in Hoover while keeping an eye on the NCAA Regional ahead.

The Aggies will face the winner of LSU and Auburn in their first game at Hoover's Regions Field at 7 p.m.

Head Coach Michael Earley said the approach to player health this week differs from what it would be in a regional setting.

"That's the biggest difference, right? Like if a guy's super banged up or something, like you're just not going to push it as far as you would if it's win or go home, because we got more games to play," Earley said.

Earley described the SEC Tournament as a first-class experience and said winning it requires sound, consistent baseball.

"It's really like a kind of mini version of Omaha. You get the police escort. They just do a really nice job of how they take care of the teams, in the hotel to while you're at the field. It's very, very well put on," Earley said.

ABS system draws attention

One of the biggest storylines entering the tournament is the newly implemented Automatic Ball-Strike challenge system, being used in college baseball postseason play for the first time.

Earley said the team has spent the last 24 hours studying how other teams have used it.

"I think it's good for the guys to see too, like, see the ones where people get wrong and they're clearly in the zone, so knowing when to use them. So that strategy is not going to give our strategy completely, but something we'll talk about today and tomorrow when we get there," Earley said.

Outfielder Jake Duer said he watched the early tournament games closely to get a feel for how the system plays.

"Maybe we'll leave it to Bear, let Bear do his thing, maybe see what happens with that. But as hitters, you know, it's exciting just to see, like, the zone's a little bigger, whatever's going on, but you know, it'll be fun to use, maybe I'll try to use it once or twice if Earley lets me," Duer said.

First baseman Gavin Grahovac said the Aggies' daily work in the strike zone is the foundation of their preparation.

"We train the strike zone every single day. Like that's the biggest thing of being part of the offense here is training the strike zone, knowing the strike zone," Grahovac said.

Grahovac earns SEC honors

Speaking of the standout junior, Grahovac added hardware to the trophy case this week, earning SEC All-First Team, SEC All-Defensive Team, and SEC Scholar Athlete of the Year honors.

"Scholar athlete, very exciting. I'm sure my mom is very proud. That's an exciting one to win. Obviously, I didn't really know I was in the running for it, but it's a cool, cool honor. All the other ones, that's just a testament to how good the team's been this year. Give me a chance to go out there and play, play as best as I can, be the best version of myself. So, yeah, I thank the guys for helping me get to that point," Grahovac said.

Duer said the team's mindset heading into the tournament is straightforward.

"It's about winning, and I think the standard is winning, so we're gonna go out there and win no matter what," Duer said.

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