Ole Miss Baseball Drops Series Finale to No. 4 Texas A&M

A four-run third inning gave Ole Miss a three-run lead in Saturday’s series finale with Texas A&M but the Aggies put up seven runs of their own in the fourth and moved on to a 12-5 win at Swayze Field.

Texas A&M (35-17, 19-11 SEC) claimed the series, having won on Thursday night, while Ole Miss won the Friday night game.

After the Aggies took a 1-0 lead in the first inning of the series finale, Hayden Dunhurst tied things up with a leadoff solo homer in the bottom of the second.

In the third inning with the game tied 1-1, Texas A&M moved ahead on a Troy Claunch single that scored Dylan Rock, who had reached on a base hit and later stole second.

Trailing 2-1, it was the Rebels who provided the next big moments to lead 5-2. As Dunhurst had done the inning before, Jacob Gonzalez led off the third with a solo home run. With Tim Elko reaching first base via a walk and Kevin Graham getting aboard with a single, Peyton Chatagnier sent one out of the ballpark to put the Rebels in front.

The top of the fourth proved too much for Ole Miss to overcome on this day. After a one-out single by Kole Kaler and a double by Trevor Werner, Rebel starter Derek Diamond’s day was done, and Drew McDaniel entered the game to try to keep things where they were. However, after Jack Moss struck out, Rock tied the game at 5-5on a three-run homer.

The Aggies would then score more in the fourth. With the bases loaded, Brett Minnich’s grand slam put A&M up 9-5. Mason Nichols replaced McDaniel and got Jordan Thompson to strike out swinging to end any more damage for the Rebels.

The score remained a four-run Aggie lead until they added a two-run homer in the ninth by Ryan Targac and a solo shot out of the park by Thompson off UM reliever Brandon Johnson for the final scoring of the game.

Max Cioffi came in for Johnson to finish things up on the mound for Ole Miss. The Rebels didn’t produce any runs in the bottom of the ninth.

The Rebels turn their attention to the SEC Tournament, where as the No. 9 seed they’ll play eighth-seeded Vanderbilt at 4:30 p.m. CT in Hoover, Alabama. The game will be televised nationally on the SEC Network, with the call being available through the Ole Miss Radio Network.

Courtesy of OleMissSports