Game #17: No. 9 Oklahoma 8, No. 22 Texas A&M 7
Records: Texas A&M (15-2, 0-1), Oklahoma (16-2, 1-0)
WP: Jason Bodin (2-0)
LP: Clayton Freshcorn (2-1)
Box Score
Remember that the 10-week SEC slate is a marathon.
As it turns out, the first of a 30-game gauntlet was a mini-marathon itself.
In a contest that took three hours and 43 minutes, No. 22 Texas A&M ultimately fell to ninth-ranked Oklahoma, 8-7, in front of 3,727 at Norman’s Kimrey Family Stadium on Friday night.
The Aggies were outhit 13-6. They were just 2-for-24 with runners on base. They worked 11 walks but struck out 13 times. They used five relievers behind Shane Sdao’s abbreviated start.
Like running 26.2 consecutive miles, nothing came easy for Michael Earley’s club…except it was only the first lap.
A&M led 4-0 after the top of the first. Oklahoma immediately scored twice in the bottom half.
When the Aggies built a 7-4 advantage on Wesley Jordan’s two-run double in the sixth, the Sooners immediately tied the game with back-to-back home runs from Brendan Brock and Jaxon Willits.
Bella Lerma, TexAgs
With two hits on Friday, Chris Hacopian is now 7-for-14 as an Aggie.
Even 7-7, Oklahoma finally took its first lead of the night on Dasan Harris’ sacrifice fly in the eighth.
Harris was only in the game because Willits was ejected for spiking his bat in celebration of the aforementioned homer two innings prior, an altercation that saw Earley toss the twig back toward the Sooners’ third-base dugout.
Indeed, it was a frustratingly sloppy night north of the Red River that will certainly have the Aggies seeing red as an SEC-opening victory slipped away.
Lineup returnees Chris Hacopian and Jordan accounted for A&M’s only hits with men aboard as the former’s first-inning double opened the scoring, while the latter’s sixth-inning single accounted for the final two Aggie runs of the day.
Combined, they were 3-for-6 with four walks and three RBI.
Unfortunately, Hacopian and Jordan didn’t get enough help elsewhere, whether at the plate or on the mound.
Early on, it appeared A&M was going to capitalize on an insanely ineffective start from Oklahoma ace Cameron Johnson, but the top five of Trey Gambill, Camden Johnson, Brock, Willits and Deiten Lachance never let the Aggie pitching staff catch its breath.
Bella Lerma, TexAgs
Shane Sdao’s final line: 3.2 innings, eight hits, four runs, one walk and two strikeouts on 84 pitches.
While Ethan Darden and Hunter Vincent tossed scoreless relief outings, Sdao surrendered four runs while failing to complete the fourth. Vargas allowed three, and Clayton Freshcorn coughed up the game-decider.
All the while, a former A&M pitcher — Jason Bodin — got the final seven outs for Skip Johnson, striking out four of the nine Aggies he faced.
Still, Josh Stewart experienced the most upsetting and heartbreaking night, leaving with an apparent arm injury just four pitches into his fifth relief stint of the year.
It was a brutal blow during a bitter loss, but the Aggies must keep going.
Marathons aren’t supposed to be easy.
Frustration, pain, injuries, and even heartbreak are common… maybe just not this early.
A&M will keep running the race on Saturday when the series resumes at 4 p.m. CT.