No. 18 Texas A&M Takes Game 1 in Jim Schlossnagle's Return to College Station

Jim Schlossnagle's first game back in College Station was one for the ages, and even more so for the Texas A&M fans at Blue Bell Park as they watched the No. 18 Texas A&M Aggies get the best of Schlossnagle and the No. 2 Texas Longhorns in the form of a 9-8 win Friday night.

The contest was a battle between SEC heavyweights, and they were matching each other blow for blow until Clayton Freshcorn came in the top of the seventh, and runs suddenly became scarce for the Longhorns.

Ethan Darden took his third win of the year for the Aggies while Freshcorn recorded his seventh save of the 2026 season.

Aggies Welcome Back Schlossnagle With Game 1 Win Over Longhorns

Texas A&M Aggies first baseman Blake Binderup celebrates at home plate with Bear Harrison (16), Boston Kellner (6), and Nico Partida (2). | 12thMan.com

A sacrifice fly by Anthony Park Jr. allowed the Longhorns to strike first in the top of the third inning, and the Aggies promptly responded in the bottom half of the frame as a double by Gavin Grahovac plated Boston Kellner and a ground out to second by Caden Sorrell brought home Grahovac to give the Aggies a 2-1 lead.

Texas' designated hitter Josh Livingston would knot the score back up with a double down the first base line just out of Grahovac's reach, only for Nico Partida to start off A&M's fourth inning of work with a solo home run, his 10th of the season.

A two-run homer by Texas' Aiden Robbins and another RBI by Sorrell kept the game tied at four after the fifth inning before Longhorns catcher Carson Tinney smashed a go-ahead two-run home run, and the Aggies trailed 6-4.

And then came the sixth inning, the start of Texas' downfall at the hands of Olsen Magic.

The Aggies drew five walks in the inning, with two of them resulting in runs being scored thanks to plate discipline shown by Bear Harrison and Boston Kellner, and a sacrifice fly from Grahovac put the Aggies back on top, giving them a lead they would never surrender for the rest of the contest.

That would largely be in part due to Clayton Freshcorn, who came in at the top of the seventh and held Texas scoreless for the first time since the second frame.

Texas A&M would add on some insurance in the seventh and eighth innings with runs hit in by Jorian Wilson and Chris Hacopian to put them ahead 9-6 entering the top of the ninth inning.

Some hearts likely skipped a few beats when Aiden Robbins and Anthony Pack Jr. slammed back-to-back home runs to cut Texas A&M's lead to just one, but Freshcorn and the Ags were able to keep their composure and close out the win, their first against Texas on the diamond since the Bryan-College Station Regional in 2024.

Despite everything off the field surrounding the series, Texas A&M head coach Michael Earley felt no different after the win over his former head coach, saying that a win in the SEC is just that, a win.

"SEC wins are SEC wins," Earley said after the game. "Wherever we're at in the SEC, when you need them, you just gotta keep grabbing them."

Earley also praised the play and initiative taken by Freshcorn on the mound, who earned a longer outing than usual after a conversation he had with A&M pitching coach Jason Kelly.

"He went into J.K.'s (Kelly's) office, and he was like, 'I want some more,'" said Earley. "And I was already thinking about that, so it definitely feels good. You want players to want the ball, and a situation like that where he knows he's getting it and he just wants it more. He read my mind."

When Freshcorn himself was asked about said conversation, his explanation was simple: he just wanted to do what was best for the team.

"I want to win, and I want to help this team in any case that I can," Freshcorn said after the win. "I feel like when I'm in my groove that I think that we can win. So, just going up there, I said, 'I want to throw as much as possible.' It was a great conversation, and we were in the same headspace, and that was it."

The conversation surely paid off for both sides, as Freshcorn turned in three solid innings with four strikeouts, with the back-to-back jacks in the ninth serving as the only negatives during what would end up being the junior's seventh save of the year.

Game 2 between the two rivals is scheduled to begin at 2:00 PM on Saturday from Blue Bell Park in College Station.

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