Aggies finish short in bid for SEC title
COLLEGESTATION— Ayear ago Texas A&Mlost in the 16th inning of a deciding third game at TCU in an NCAA Tournament super regional, a defeat the Aggies said motivated them all offseason and this season.
With the postseason now dead ahead, the second-ranked Aggies claim their motivation has received a brand-new boost courtesy of yet another one-run loss: 3-2 to No. 6 Mississippi in the final game of the regular season Saturday at Blue Bell Park before 6,559 fans.
“This fuels us moving forward,” said A&M reliever Mark Ecker, who held the Rebels hitless over the last four innings.
Never mind that the Aggies already had won the series by taking the first two games against Mississippi, in winning their seventh consecutive Southeastern Conference series. Had A&M (41-13, 20-10) swept the Rebels (40-16, 18-12), the Aggies would have won their first SEC title in their fourth season in the nation’s top baseball conference.
The SEC sported seven teams in the top dozen of the Baseball America poll entering the weekend.
Mississippi State and South Carolina edged the Aggies in the conference standings courtesy of victories Saturday in their finales. A&M won five of six from the Bulldogs and Gamecocks this season, but still wound up a No. 3 seed for this week’s SEC tournament in Hoover, Ala.
As for Saturday’s narrow loss that ended with the bases loaded in the ninth?
“We had some opportunities to cash in some runs and it just didn’t happen,” A&M coach Rob Childress said. “It was a great ballgame. I’m just disappointed for our players that they didn’t get to celebrate at home.”
They still might get to, however, considering the Aggies appear to be a sure bet for their first national seed (top eight) in the NCAA Tournament since 1999, no matter what happens in Hoover. The Aggies likely will play host to a super regional should they first win a regional at Blue Bell Park, for the right to play in their first College World Series since 2011.
“We’ve got more championships out there to win,” A&M left fielder J.B. Moss said. “We’ve got to see the bigger picture.”
The Aggies were on the cusp of closing out an already memorable regular season in theatrical fashion, by loading the bases with one out in the ninth on a single and two walks, while trailing 3-2.
With the sellout crowd on its feet, Hunter Melton fouled out to Rebels first baseman Will Golsan, and Ryne Birk closed out the game with a sharp grounder that Mississippi shortstop Errol Robinson snagged and threw to second base for the force out.