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Aggie Baseball Drops Series in Athens

A&M entered the weekend needing a bounce back, but dropped their third straight series.

Photo via Rebecca S.

The first two weekends of their SEC slate, the Aggies shot themselves in the foot. What should have been two series wins were not so thanks to their own mistakes. So A&M headed east to Athens to match up with the white-hot Georgia Bulldogs in hopes of getting their season back on track. Unfortunately, the Ags flat out got beat in this one. A&M now sits at 3-6 in league play, tied with Alabama and Kentucky for 11th overall in the SEC. They’re just one game better than last place, 2-7 Mississippi State.

The only silver lining here is that they have avoided being swept to this point. The Aggies will have plenty more opportunities to turn this thing around, but they’ll need to do that very quickly. With their strong start to the season and the talent this team has, A&M looked like an easy pick for a regional host. But right now they need to pull it together, especially with top-five Florida, top-five Arkansas, and LSU still on the schedule.

Thursday: Georgia 11, Texas A&M 5

  • In this one, A&M just could not contain Georgia’s offense. With a 2-0 lead in the fourth, UGA posted a three-spot to take a 3-2 lead. The Aggies answered thanks to a Braden Shewmake two-run bomb in the fifth, giving A&M the lead right back. Georgia then posted back-to-back four-run innings to blow the game wide open. In those two innings alone, Georgia DH Michael Curry collected all four of his RBIs on the weekend, with a three-run homer in the fifth and an RBI single in the sixth.
  • The bright spot for A&M on Thursday came from Michael F. Helman, Shewmake, and Cole Bedford. Shewmake and Bedford both homered, and each of them had at least two hits. The Aggie offense has yet to fully hit its stride. A lot of that has to do with Shewmake not having put it all together. If A&M can get the Shewmake that won SEC Freshman of the Year last season, look out.

Friday: Georgia 3, Texas A&M 0

  • For the first time in 2018, the Aggies got shutout. They managed just six baserunners, with two hits, two walks, a hit batter, and a fielder’s choice. UGA’s starter, true freshman Emerson Hancock, had a no-hitter going in the fourth, but he left the game with an injury. Even then, A&M couldn’t get anything going at the plate.
  • On the mound, John Doxakis was good, but not great. In six innings, he allowed three runs on eight hits, two walks, and a hit batter. He did strike out eight Georgia hitters, but on a day where the Aggie offense was back at the team hotel, those three runs felt like six.

Saturday: Texas A&M 5, Georgia 0

  • After a mediocre outing last weekend against Ole Miss, Mitchell Kilkenny was back with a vengeance to doing Mitchell Kilkenny things. In 6.2 innings of work, Kilkenny held Georgia scoreless on three hits and four walks, while striking out six. This was definitely a good get-right outing for Kilkenny, despite hitting three batters himself. Keeping Georgia off the board despite allowing 10 baserunners was huge.
  • Hunter Coleman was the big hero of the day at the plate. He finished the day 1-for-3, with three RBIs, including a huge two-run single in the fifth to give Kilkenny some much needed breathing room.

What’s Next?

The Aggies return home tomorrow night to take on the Houston Cougars. UH dropped their series at Cincinnati this past weekend, and currently sit 17-11 on the year. No doubt, the Cougs will be looking for some revenge after the Ags took their own regional from them last season. First pitch is scheduled for 6:32 pm. See y’all at Olsen!