News release from Texas A&M Athletics:
BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION – Kaeden Kent drew a walk-off walk in the bottom half of the ninth as the No. 3 Texas A&M baseball team remained undefeated with a 9-8 midweek victory over Sam Houston (11-6) Tuesday night in front of a season-best crowd of 7,342 at Olsen Field at Blue Bell Park.
With the victory, the Aggies are off to a 17-0 start for the first time since 2015 and third time in program history.
After a bloop single from Ali Camarillo loaded the bases in the bottom half of the ninth, Kent followed with a five-pitch walk to win the game for the Maroon & White. Pinch hitter Caden Sorrell scored the winning run for Texas A&M after leading off the frame with a walk.
Chris Cortez earned the win to improve to 2-0 on the year after allowing one run over two innings of work and striking out two. Starter Isaac Morton logged a no-decision after giving up one run in two innings to go along with three strikeouts. In total, the Aggies used seven pitchers on the night.
Jace LaViolette led the way offensively for Texas A&M, recording his third multi-home run game of the season and finishing 3-for-5 at the dish. The two homers moved the sophomore’s career total to 30, which is tied for the eighth-most all-time in program history.
Freshman Gavin Grahovac followed with a 3-for-5 performance of his own and a two-run homer. Camarillo (3-for-5) and Braden Montgomery (2-for-4) also logged a multi-hit game in the win for the Maroon & White.
A 470-foot solo blast to dead center off the bat of LaViolette opened the scoring in the bottom half of the first. Later in the frame, Jackson Appel pushed an RBI single through the right side to score Montgomery, who reached on a walk. An error by the Bearkats’ third baseman allowed Ted Burton to cross the plate for the third and final run of the frame.
In the second, the Maroon & White’s bats struck again as Grahovac belted a two-run blast off the light pole in left center that traveled 463 feet. The long ball marked the fourth of the year for the freshman. LaViolette followed with his second homer of the game, sending this one over Section 12 in right as the Aggies lead jumped to 6-0.
Sam Houston got a run back in the third on an RBI double and plated two more in the fourth on a single to right to cut the lead to 6-3.
The Maroon & White responded in the bottom half of the fourth with a pair of runs courtesy of a Montgomery RBI single and a Hayden Schott RBI fielder’s choice to push the advantage to 8-3.
In the sixth, the Bearkats trimmed the lead to one with a grand slam off the bat of Malachi Lott and then evened the score at 8-8 with a solo homer in the eighth.
Inside the Box Score
Texas A&M racked up 14 hits and drew six walks.
Four Aggies logged multi-hit performances.
Grahovac and LaViolette registered multi-RBI games.
As a staff, the Maroon & White recorded 12 punchouts.
Zane Badmaev struck out a team-best four in the win.
Brock Peery, Eldridge Armstrong III, Peyton Smith and Luke Jackson all made appearances in relief for the Aggies.
Notes
With the win, the Aggies snapped a two-game skid against the Bearkats and improved their series record to 91-43-2 all-time.
Texas A&M is off to its third-best start in program history at 17-0.
The Maroon & White have recorded walk-off wins in back-to-back games for the first time since 2012.
LaViolette logged career home runs No. 29 and 30 in the win, moving him into a tie for eighth all-time in program history.
The multi-home run performance was LaViolette’s third of the year and seventh of his career.
The sophomore has now reached base safely in all 17 games this season.
Montgomery extended his on-base streak to 45 consecutive games.
Up Next
The Aggies travel to Gainesville for their 2024 SEC Opener at No. 8 Florida, starting Friday night at 5:30 p.m. CST.