Feb. 16, 2026, 6:31 a.m. CT
No. 25 Texas A&M (3-0) opened the 2026 college baseball season in impressive form, sweeping Tennessee Tech, culminating in Sunday’s 7-1 victory, aided by sophomore starting pitcher Aiden Sims’ debut at the program’s Sunday starter, recording a career high seven strikeouts in six innings and allowing just one hit and one run.
Coming into the 2026 season, the loss of every starting pitcher from the 2025 roster, headlined by ace Ryan Prager and Justin Lamkin, who were selected in the 2025 MLB Draft, the return of injured starter Shane Sdao, and 2025 reliever Weston Moss served as the lone starting options. Second-year head coach Michael Earley served even more adversity after losing sophomore LHP Caden McCoy for the year, leading to Aiden Sims being named as the third starter.
While Sdao and Moss looked solid in their starts, Sims, who was by far the team’s biggest question mark heading into the week, looked like a starting-level SEC pitcher from his first to last inning, even getting out of several tense situations, including runners on second and third with no outs. While the sample size is small, the Forney, Texas, native looks the part.
As expected, Sims took questions from the media after the game, fully taking in his first career start on the mound, and looking forward to the challenges ahead, while taking on any future adversity head-on.
“Yeah, it was awesome. It’s everything I dreamed over,” Sims stated. “I’ve been working torwards this since last year, getting to start on a couple Tuesdays, got a little banged up, but it was good to get out there and start on a Sunday.”
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After a shaky performance in the 4th and 5th frames, Sims and the coaching staff worked through these issues on the mound, resulting in a clean finish before ultimately being replaced by Clayton Freshcorn after six innings. Regarding his preparation before the season, Sims said he returned to campus early to prepare for his inevitable start while working on several pitches.
“Uh, sweeper has been a really good pitch for me. I’ve been working with that in the bullpen, and the cutter has been an awesome pitch for me,” Sims said. “It’s got up a lot of VO (velocity) shapes great and able to command every pitch within the zone.”
Sims’ pitch arsenal provides more versatility to the starting rotation, as opposing batters won’t face similar pitches during most games this season, which is certainly an advantage.
Texas A&M will host A&M Corpus-Christi on Tuesday at 6:00 p.m. The game will air on SEC Network+.
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