Bullpen Struggles as No. 20 Texas A&M Drops Series Opener to Vanderbilt

Thursday night served as a rather anticlimactic series opener for the No. 20 Texas A&M Aggies as they dropped Game 1 against the unranked Vanderbilt Commodores, 14-6, in College Station.

The Commodores jumped out to an early lead with two solo home runs off of starting pitcher Shane Sdao in the first inning, and the Aggies spent the rest of the night playing catch up, and were really never able to swing the pendulum of momentum their way.

Sdao took the loss for Texas A&M, his second of the year, after allowing eight hits while also striking out 10 in his five innings of work.

Caden Sorrell, Bear Harrison's Multi-Homer Nights Not Enough

Texas A&M pitcher Shane Sdao (38) throws a pitch. | Maria Lysaker-Imagn Images

Despite the loss, there were plenty of fireworks from the Texas A&M offense, primarily from center fielder Caden Sorrell and catcher Bear Harrison, both of whom clubbed two home runs during Thursday night's action.

Freshman Jorian Wilson continued his red-hot start to his first year of collegiate play by putting the Aggies on the board in the bottom of the second inning with a solo home run.

Vanderbilt's bats were simply too hot, however, as they clubbed five home runs throughout the night, including three of them coming off the bat of designated hitter Colin Barczi, who went 4-for-6 with the hat trick of long balls and four runs batted in.

The entirety of the game was a case of one step forward and two steps back for the Aggies, as it seemed that anytime they got close to tying or taking the lead from Tim Corbin's team, the Commodores would put another crooked number on the board in their next half of the inning.

After the bottom of the fifth saw A&M plate three runs to cut the Vandy lead to 6-5, the 'Dores would put three more runs on the board to give them a 9-5 lead in the top of the sixth, which was promptly answered with three more runs by the No. 20 Ags, but the visiting team would serve up the coup de grace late, scoring two runs in the eighth inning and then three in the ninth to take the 14-8 win.

The loss also saw an injury scare for the Aggies, as Juan Vargas left the game in the eighth inning after landing awkwardly on his ankle to field a sacrifice bunt off the mound.

No official word has been given as to how severe the injury is or if it will force the junior from Panama to miss any time.

As inclement weather looms over the weekend in College Station, the two teams will now face off in a doubleheader Friday with the first game starting at 2:00 PM and the second game following at 6:00 PM, or 45 minutes after the first game's conclusion.

Top Performers

Bear Harrison: 2-4, 2 HR, 4 RBI
Caden Sorrell: 2-5, 2 HR, 3 RBI
Jorian Wilson: 2-4, HR, RBI

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