Texas A&M baseball outlasts rival Texas to take Game 1, 9-8
By David Wasson
Published:
The No. 18 Texas A&M baseball team earned a huge opening-game victory over No. 2 Texas on Friday night, hanging on for a 9-8 victory in front of 7,664 at Blue Bell Park in College Station.
The Aggies (26-7 overall, 8-5 SEC) can earn a series victory in Saturday’s second game (3 pm ET, ESPN2). The Longhorns (27-6, 9-4) have not dropped an SEC series yet this season.
Nico Partida was 2-for-2 with a solo homer and 2 runs scored for Texas A&M, while Gavin Grahovac doubled, tripled, scored twice and drove in 2 runs.
Aiden Robbins went 3-for-5 with 2 home runs and 3 RBIs for Texas, and both Anthony Pack Jr. and Carson Tinney hit solo homers in the ninth inning and each drove in 2 runs for Texas.
Texas A&M did its most damage in the sixth inning, scoring 2 runs on a pair of base-loaded walks and a third on a Grahovac sacrifice fly.
Ethan Darden (3-0) earned the victory on the mound for the Aggies, throwing 2 innings of relief pitching after starter Shane Sdao struck out 6 Longhorns in 4 innings. Clayton Freshcorn pitched the final 3 innings to pick up his 7th save. Texas reliever Haiden Leffew (2-1) absorbed the loss.
An APSE national award-winning writer and editor, David Wasson has almost four decades of experience in the print journalism business in Florida and Alabama. His work has also appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times and several national magazines and websites. His Twitter handle: @JustDWasson.
