No. 23 Texas A&M Stays Perfect With Mercy Rule Win Over Virginia Tech

Day 1 of the AmegyBank College Baseball Classic at Globe Life Park in Arlington went swimmingly for the No. 23 Texas A&M Aggies, who secured their ninth straight win to open 2026 with a 10-0 run ruling of the Virginia Tech Hokies Friday night.

Shane Sdao's third start of the year saw him go six innings, allowing only four hits, one walk, and striking out five.

The game was highlighted offensively by Texas A&M's sixth inning of work that saw the team bat around and put up eight runs, and one scoreless Cole Hubert inning later, the Aggies remained undefeated on the year.

Sdao, Late Offense Keeps Aggies Flawless in 2026 Season

Texas A&M pitcher Shane Sdao (38) throws a pitch during the first inning against Oregon at Olsen Field, Blue Bell Park | Maria Lysaker-Imagn Images

The game also saw the brief return of Chris Hacopian, who had missed the past six games with a back injury, and he wasted no time knocking the rust off, blasting his first home run as an Aggie in the bottom of the first inning to put the Aggies up 1-0 early on.

However, it was only a brief return, as Hacopian would later come out of the game and be replaced by Blake Binderup, with head coach Michael Earley dubbing him "day-to-day" after the game.

"Always day-to-day with that guy," Earley said to the media postgame. "We'll see how tomorrow looks. He's really tough, but we also just want to be smart with the situation."

Hacopian's replacement with Binderup, however, would go on to kickstart one of A&M's most electric innings of offense in the short 2026 season.

After Binderup walked to open the inning, Jake Duer would double to center and Nico Partida would also take ball four to load the bases, which was followed by a sacrifice fly by Terrence Kiel II to score Binderup, and then a wild pitch that allowed Duer to cross home easily.

Now with a 4-0 lead and the bases loaded, Gavin Grahovac was nailed with a pitch, scoring Partida and beginning a string of scoring plays for the Aggies.

After Grahovac was hit, Caden Sorrell and Binderup would step up and swat doubles into the gaps to score two runs apiece, with Jake Duer following up with a double of his own to score Binderup and put the Aggies in place for the run rule, which was achieved the following inning when Cole Hubert came on to retire the side.

Shane Sdao took his second win of the season after his six innings of shutout play, and credited his offense for doing their part and making his job on the bump easier, especially late in the game.

"I love those guys," Sdao told the media afterwards. "I have my full trust in them, whether it's an 0-0 game like last week or a 10-0 like it was this game. I put my full trust in them that they're going to come through for me, and they did."

The challenge gets a little more intense for the Aggies tomorrow in their second game of the weekend as they take on the No. 1 UCLA Bruins at 7:00 PM.

UCLA defeated the No. 13 Tennessee Volunteers by a score of 12-5 in their first game in Arlington on Friday, meaning that if Texas A&M's Weston Moss can do what Sdao did tonight, and the A&M bats can put up another absurd number on the scoreboard, a massive upset could be in store at the Texas Rangers' home.