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News release from Texas A&M Baseball:
BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION – The top-ranked Texas A&M baseball team (38-6) concludes its five-game homestand Tuesday night with a midweek contest against Tarleton (25-19) at 6 p.m.
Tuesday’s contest will be streamed on SEC Network+ and can be heard locally on SportsRadio 1150AM/93.7 The Zone. Fans can also follow along with the games on X, @AggieBaseball.
The Aggies are coming off their sixth straight series win over a ranked foe after taking two of three against No. 17 Georgia over the weekend. With the series win, the Maroon & White are off to their best start in program history in SEC play with a 15-6 mark.
For the third straight week, Texas A&M is atop the polls as the unanimous No. 1 team. The ranking marks the fifth consecutive week the Aggies have been inside the Top 5 in all five major polls.
Tuesday’s contest marks the sixth meeting all-time between the Maroon & White and Texans. Texas A&M is a perfect 5-0 in the series and 11-0 in midweek contests this season.
Under first year pitching coach Max Weiner, the Aggies pitching staff has lowered its ERA from a season ago by nearly two runs. The Maroon & White currently rank first in shutouts (8), third in strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.50), fourth in WHIP (1.23), eighth in ERA (3.84), ninth in strikeouts per nine (11.0), 10th in walks allowed per nine (3.16) and 16th hits allowed per nine (7.87). Their eight shutouts are the most since 2016.
Offensively, the Aggies have been scorching of late as they’ve average 10.8 runs per game in the last 12 contests. Nationally, the Aggies rank second in walks (297), fourth in homers (99), fourth in slugging percentage (.594), fifth in on-base percentage (.438), sixth in runs (416), 10th in scoring (9.5), 13th in hits (474) and 16th in batting average (.315).
The Aggies have arguably the best 1-2-3 lineup punch in all of college baseball in Gavin Grahovac, Jace LaViolette and Braden Montgomery. The trio has combined for 183 of the Aggies 394 RBI on the year.
Entering the week, Montgomery ranks second nationally in RBI (73), third in RBI per game (1.66), fourth in total bases (146), fourth in homers (23), fifth in slugging percentage (.885) and 11th in walks (44).
LaViolette currently sits third nationally in runs (67), seventh in total bases (139), fifth in homers (22), 17th in RBI (58) and 18th in slugging percentage (.818). Against Alabama on April 20, LaViolette became the first player in program history to record back-to-back seasons of 20 or more home runs. LaViolette and Montgomery are also the first pair of teammates in program history to hit 20 or more homers each in a season.
Grahovac has turned in a stellar rookie campaign thus far, ranking sixth in the SEC in RBI with 52. In SEC play, Grahovac has belted 11 homers and driven in 26 RBI.