![wtaw-aggie-baseball-featured WTAW 1620 Aggie Baseball](https://wtaw.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/wtaw-aggie-baseball-featured.jpg)
News release from Texas A&M Athletics:
BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION – A six-run fifth inning and a dominant outing in relief from Chris Cortez propelled the No. 3 Texas A&M baseball team past No. 6 Vanderbilt, 12-6, Sunday afternoon in the series finale from Olsen Field at Blue Bell Park.
The sweep marked the Aggies (32-4, 11-4) first in program history against the Commodores (26-10, 8-7) and their first against a ranked opponent since 2016. The impressive sweep also featured the second largest weekend attendance in program history as 22,489 fans made their way through the gates of Blue Bell Park in the three games.
Cortez earned the win after delivering 4.1 scoreless innings in relief to go along with a career-high tying eight strikeouts. Reliever Evan Aschenbeck picked up his fifth save of the year as the senior allowed two runs over three innings of work.
Freshman Gavin Grahovac powered the offensive attack for the Maroon & White, finishing 3-for-4 with a season-best four runs scored, a homer and two RBI. Jace LaViolette also recorded a multi-hit performance in the win as the sophomore went 2-for-4 with two RBI.
Vanderbilt broke through on the scoreboard in the second with four runs on four hits, snapping a 24-inning scoreless streak for the Aggie pitching staff.
The Maroon & White cut the deficit in half in the third with a pair of runs that started with an RBI single through the right side by LaViolette. The Aggies threatened for a big inning as they loaded the bases with no outs but were only able to come away with one more run as Grahovac crossed the plate on a double play.
In the fifth, Texas A&M exploded for six runs on four hits to jump out to an 8-4 lead. Grahovac jumpstarted the scoring with a solo blast off the scoreboard in left that traveled 421 feet. The freshman’s homer marked his 13th of the year.
Following a LaViolette double down the line in right, Braden Montgomery plated the sophomore on an RBI double down the line in left to even the game at 4-4. After the Maroon & White took the lead on a fielding error by Vanderbilt, Ali Camarillo broke the game open with a three-run homer to straightaway center. The junior’s third long ball of the year traveled 422 feet and left the bat at 101 mph.
The Aggies tacked on another run in the sixth as Grahovac scored his third run of the afternoon on a wild pitch to stretch the advantage to 9-4.
The Commodores trimmed the deficit to four, 9-5, in the eighth with a solo homer and threatened for more as they had runners on the corners with no outs. Aschenbeck escaped the jam by registering a strikeout and back-to-back flyouts.
In the bottom half of the frame, the Maroon & White added three runs of insurance courtesy of a Grahovac RBI single, LaViolette sac fly and a Montgomery RBI groundout.
Despite allowing a solo homer in the ninth, Texas A&M went on to complete the sweep with a 12-6 victory.
Inside the Box Score
The Maroon & White racked up 10 hits and five walks in the win.
Grahovac scored a season-high four runs on the day and went 3-for-4 at the dish.
LaViolette was the only other Aggie to record a multi-hit performance.
Montgomery drew a game-high tying two walks in the win.
Camarillo plated a game-best three RBI on the day.
As a staff, Texas A&M struck out 11 batters.
Starter Justin Lamkin allowed four runs over 1.2 innings of work.
Notes
With the win, the Maroon & White improved to 16-10 all-time against Vanderbilt.
The Aggies have now won seven of the last nine in the series.
The weekend attendance total of 22,489 marked the second largest in program history.
The sweep marked the first in program history against the Commodores and the first against a ranked opponent since 2016.
Texas A&M’s run total of 36 on the weekend was its highest all-time in an SEC series.
The Aggies are off to its best 15-game start in SEC play since 2015.
Grahovac logged his 15th multi-hit and 10th multi-RBI game of the year in the win.
Camarillo extended his on-base streak to 22 games.
Jackson Appel pushed his on-base streak to 21 games.
Montgomery has now reached base safely in 18 consecutive contests.
Up Next
The Aggies conclude their five-game homestand with a midweek contest against Air Force at 4 p.m. from Olsen Field at Blue Bell Park.