COLLEGE STATION, Texas (KBTX) – Texas A&M center fielder Caden Sorrell has a perfect vantage point for a Gavin Lyons outing.
From his position directly behind the Aggie reliever, he is continually amazed at the sophomore’s arm slot, which floats off the ground. Almost like a softball pitcher, his offerings explode up toward the batter.
“You don’t see a guy that’s throwing from a four-foot release every day and it just kind of takes off,” Sorrell said. “I can see it in center field. His ball’s got a ton of movement. It’s just not something you see very often.”
It was apparent Lyons’s unique delivery was unfamiliar to No. 2 Texas in an 11-4 Aggie victory Saturday at Blue Bell Park, in which Lyons picked up a win. Lyons was also almost unrecognizable when the typically stoic right-hander let out a roar after a game-ending strikeout, sealing the Aggies’ first Lone Star Showdown series win since Texas joined the Southeastern Conference.
“You dream about this as a kid and I was just so excited to go out there,” Lyons said of his outing, which he said was the best of his college career. “And you know, my emotions showed it maybe a little too much. But, it was a lot of fun.”
Saturday, Lyons’s unique look held Texas to one run on three hits in 4 1/3 innings on the mound. He struck out five without a walk on 55 pitches.
It was when Lyons was a kid, approximately seventh or eighth grade, that he decided to drop his arm to his side when pitching. Since that point, he’s consistently lowered it to its current position.
When his arsenal is on, batters typically are on top of the ball, producing swings and misses or groundouts, he said.
“He threw a lot of heaters today, because he was just throwing it well,” head coach Michael Earley said. “But when he gets that extension on the heater and he can get that breaking pitch to the other side — his changeup is developing, he threw a couple to [Anthony] Pack — it’s good. It’s just a really hard, unique slot to him from.”
Lyons (5-0) began his day with two outs in the top of the fifth. Starter Aiden Sims, making his first Saturday start of the season, began to falter, allowing a solo home run to Josh Livingston, a double by Carson Tinney and a walk to Aiden Robbins. Sims had done plenty to put the Aggies in position to win the game, allowing four runs on three hits to that point. The Aggie offense gave Lyons a 9-3 lead to work with when he entered the game.
His first order of business was to retire Pack, Texas’ cleanup hitter, on a strikeout looking with runners on first and second to end the inning.
For the remaining four innings, Lyons faced two over the minimum. The first hit he allowed was a solo home run by Robbins in the top of the eighth, the Longhorn center fielder’s fourth long ball of the series.
“Aiden Robbins, that guy’s a freaking stud, man,” Earley said. “He just made a good swing.”
Lyons’s performance was another edition of an Aggie bullpen that answered the call after a lackluster pitching performance a week prior against Vanderbilt. Through two games, A&M had only used five pitchers against a formidable Texas offense.
“They’re all good players. They’ve all shown the ability to pitch well. They’ve all shown the ability to not pitch well. So, you can make a choice. You can do one of two things and they’re pitching good. It’s as simple as that,” Earley said.
A&M’s bats helped put the game away in the bottom of the first, after waiting through a nearly two-hour rain delay. Nico Partida, Bear Harrison, Gavin Grahovac and Sorrell all produced RBI extra-base hits that posted an eight-spot.
Sorrell added another extra-base hit of his own with a two-run home run in the bottom of the sixth for his 40th career round-tripper.
“It’s definitely an honor,” Sorrell said of his 40th home run. “It feels great, especially being able to get No. 40 this weekend.”
Earley had a decision for Sunday’s 1 p.m. series finale against the Longhorns, with the starting pitcher still to be determined. While that decision had not been made after the conclusion of Saturday’s game, Earley said he was leaning toward Weston Moss (3-2, 6.69 ERA). Moss had been the Aggies’ Saturday starter through every series of the season, but was initially bumped for this weekend’s Lone Star Showdown.
“It’s likely Weston, but just want to talk about it, confirm and move forward,” Earley said.
Longhorn starter Luke Harrison (4-1) was chased from the game after two-thirds of an inning.
A&M is going for its first three-game series sweep of the Longhorns since 1991. Saturday marked the first time the Aggies beat the Longhorns twice in a season since 2022 and was the first series win since 2012, the final year the Aggies were in the Big 12 with the Longhorns. The two programs have only met in series twice since A&M’s departure.
While the party line was that the series victory was just another conference win, Sorrell had a good view of just how important the win was to Lyons. That added emotion — due to the rivalry and the return of former head coach Jim Schlossnagle — was hard to deny, the Aggie outfielder said.
“As much as I want to say there’s not [added excitement taking a series from Texas], there definitely is,” Sorrell said. “A lot of history with them. Obviously, we’ve been rivals for a long time and, obviously, with the stuff that happened a couple of years ago, it’s a little more personal. So, it definitely feels good to go out there and get a series win.”
Copyright 2026 KBTX. All rights reserved.