In a series that spans 118 years, the Texas A&M Aggies and the Texas Longhorns met for their annual showdown in Austin on Tuesday night. Both teams were looking to get into the win column as both the Longhorns and Aggies came off conference series losses over the weekend.
Rivalry Renewed
A rivalry that dates back to 1904, Texas A&M and Texas have met in 372 previous games, before Tuesday night’s game, with the Longhorns holding the all-time series lead 239-128-5. In the first meeting between the two programs, the Longhorns won the game 8-4. Both programs were a part of the Big 12 Conference until Texas A&M left to join the Southeastern Conference in 2012. Since then, both the Aggies and Longhorns have split the series, 5-5, over their last ten previous games.
The Offense Plays the Part
Texas A&M came into tonight’s game with a two-game win streak over Texas dating back to 2019. Looking to extend the win streak, the Aggies got on the board early in the top of the first off of Longhorns pitcher Justin Eckhardt on back-to-back base hits from Dylan Rock and Jack Moss, quickly putting the Aggies up 2-0.
The Aggies would not hold the lead long going into the bottom of the first, with the top of the Longhorns offense coming up that has been red hot lately. Longhorns left fielder Eric Kennedy kicked things off in the bottom of the first on an infield single. Kennedy would advance to second on a bunt by Douglas Hodo III, which would bring up Longhorns first baseman, Ivan Melendez, who has been swinging a hot bat this season, is currently tied for the national leader in home runs with 13.
The Longhorns would tie the game up in the bottom of the first inning on a Melendez RBI single and a Silas Ardoin fielder’s choice, which led to a throwing error, allowing Ardoin to advance to second, and Melendez would come around to score, tieing the game up, 2-2. The Longhorns would take the lead in the bottom of the second on a Hodo III fly out, bringing in Mitchell Daly to score. Longhorns would lead 3-2.
The Aggies would take the lead 4-3 in the top of the third on a Moss two-run home run. In the bottom of the third, the Longhorns would get a run back to tie the game on a Skyler Messinger infield single, leading to a run-down, allowing a run to come across the plate.
At the top of the fourth, the Aggies would break the game wide open. Longhorns reliever Jared Southard managed to get the first two outs of the inning, but after a single, wild pitch and walk, Southard would load the bases for Rock, who would quickly unload them with a grand slam, putting the Aggies up 8-4. The Longhorns would manage to get a couple of runs back in the bottom of the fifth on a Trey Faltine two-run home run, which would bring the Longhorns to within two runs, 8-6.
The Aggies would extend their lead on a Moss double in the top of the sixth. After a quiet seventh inning from both teams, the Aggies would continue to pile it in the eighth inning. Needing just a triple to complete the cycle, Moss would come through on an RBI triple to drive in a run to extend the lead for the Aggies. Austin Bost would extend the lead on a two-run home run for the Aggies heading into the bottom of the eighth, 12-6. The Longhorns would cut into that Aggie lead with a Kennedy RBI fielder’s choice and a Hodo III RBI sacrifice fly to center field. The Aggies would lead 12-8, heading to the ninth inning.
The Aggies would not be able to get anything going in the top of the ninth, as Longhorns reliever Aaron Nixon would settle down after hitting the first batter he faced. The Longhorns would give it one last effort in the bottom of the ninth as Faltine would hit his second home run of the night off Micah Dallas, but that would be all as Dallas would close the door for the Aggies as they would go on to win, 12-9.
With the win tonight, the Aggies extended their win streak to three in a row over the Longhorns since 2019. The Aggies improved to 15-9 on the season. Their next game would be on Friday against Alabama. The Longhorns (19-8) will need to get back to the drawing board to figure out what they need to do to get back into the win column before their weekend series against Oklahoma.
Follow me on Twitter,@ripgrffin3, for more of my content. Be sure to check out our baseball podcast, The Texas Baseball Report. Find wherever you get your podcasts!
Main Image Credit
On Tuesday night in Austin, Dylan Rock rounded third after hitting a grand slam in the top of the fourth inning against the Texas Longhorns. Credit: Texas A&M Baseball.
