Where did that come from???
After a season that has consisted almost exclusively of huge disappointments, Texas A&M baseball might have given Aggie fans our first real glimmer of hope on Saturday. The team’s series at Tennessee began in depressing fashion, as A&M got no-hit and run-ruled on Friday night. Pretty much the worst way to start a series, and A&M fell to a miserable 1-9 in SEC play.
Then Saturday happened, and it’s still somewhat hard to believe. A&M smacked four home runs in the first game of a double-header to go along with six innings from starting pitcher Justin Lamkin en route to an unexpected 9-3 victory. Then things got really crazy. In the nightcap, A&M batters homered SEVEN TIMES (six of which happened in the 4th and 5th innings) to run-rule the top-ranked Volunteers 17-6 and take the series.
Texas A&M 9, Tennessee 3
Texas A&M 17, Tennessee 7
For the first time this season, this looked like the hyper-talented roster that was touted all off-season. After weeks of finding new and exciting ways to lose, from errors, to offensive woes, to relief pitching and base on balls, this team has lost close games by doing so many “little things” wrong. Turns out the little things don’t matter quite as much if you just freaking rake all day long.
A&M still has a daunting schedule the rest of the way, and has a long way to go if they hope to get back into NCAA Tournament contention. They’d likely need at least 10 SEC wins over their last six conference series to have a shot. But for the first time in a while, perhaps all season, this looks like a team capable of that.
Granted, it was just two games, on just one day. The problems that have plagued them all year could easily rear their head once more to put the final nails in the coffin of what has felt like a doomed season. But for the first time in a while, there feels like a glimmer of hope. And if this team is able to turn things around and play up to their massive potential, this just might be what we look back and point to as the turning point.