News release from Texas A&M Athletics:
COLUMBIA – The No. 3 Texas A&M baseball team concludes its four-game road swing with a three-game set at No. 22 South Carolina (21-8) starting Friday night at 6 p.m. CST from Founders Park.
The Aggies (26-3) enter the weekend riding a six-game win streak and are off to their best start since 2015.
The series will be streamed on SEC Network+ and can be heard on the TAMU Sports Network. Fans can also follow along with the game on X, @AggieBaseball.
Friday’s series opener marks the 22nd meeting all-time between the Maroon & White and Gamecocks. Texas A&M has won six of the last 10 meetings against South Carolina but narrowly trails the all-time series 10-11. In Columbia, the Aggies are 4-5.
For the third time in program history, the Maroon & White landed a trio of players on the Golden Spikes Award Midseason Watch List in Braden Montgomery, Jace LaViolette and Ryan Prager. The three selections were the most among the SEC and tied with Florida State for the national lead.
The Aggie pitching staff currently ranks first nationally in shutouts (6), second in ERA (3.21), second in strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.74), third in WHIP (1.16), sixth in strikeouts per nine (11.8), ninth in walks allowed per nine (3.14) and 10th in hits allowed per nine (7.27).
Texas A&M will send the usual rotation of LHP Prager, RHP Tanner Jones and LHP Justin Lamkin to the mound this weekend. The trio has combined for a 9-1 record to go along with a 2.88 ERA and 120 strikeouts.
Offensively, the Maroon & White sit second nationally in walks (212), seventh in on-base percentage (.440), 11th in slugging percentage (.564), 12th in homers (57), 12th in home runs per game (1.97) and 17th in runs scored (261). In the field, Texas A&M ranks third in the country in fielding percentage with a .984 mark.
The Aggies have arguably the best 1-2-3 lineup punch in all of college baseball in Gavin Grahovac, LaViolette and
Montgomery. The trio has combined for 119 of the Aggies 248 RBI on the year.
Entering the weekend, Montgomery, who was named the SEC Player of the Week, leads the nation with 51 RBI and sits second in home runs with 17. The junior also ranks third in RBI per game (1.76), third in total bases (104) and fourth in slugging percentage (.954).
LaViolette currently ranks second in the SEC in runs scored (41), third in walks (29), fifth in homers (13), 11th in RBI (32) and 12th in slugging (.755). Grahovac has turned in a stellar freshman campaign thus far, ranking eighth in the SEC in RBI with 36.