No. 23 Texas A&M Strikes Early For Turnaround Win Over Arizona State Sun Devils

A fter being run-ruled by No. 1 UCLA Saturday night, Texas A&M head coach Michael Earley made a promise that his team was going to "be better, bounce back tomorrow, and give a good effort tomorrow."

And that's exactly what happened in Sunday night's contest against the Arizona State Sun Devils.

The Maroon and White were able to use the heartache of Saturday night and turn it into triumph 24 hours later in the form of a 9-3 win over Arizona State in their last of three games at the AmegyBank College Baseball Series at Globe Life Field in Arlington.

The game was close in the opening stages, but the Aggies made it clear by the third inning that they weren't heading back to College Station with two losses on their record in the season.

Texas A&M Takes Care of Arizona State For Win in Arlington

Texas A&M Aggies' Terrence Kiel II (3) dives safely into first base as Auburn Tigers take on Texas A&M Aggies. | Jake Crandall / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

After only plating one run in Saturday's loss to UCLA, outfielder Caden Sorrell quickly made sure there wasn't a repeat of the dismal offense, blasting an opposite field two-run home run in the bottom of the first inning to give the Ags a 2-0 lead.

Arizona State, however, wasn't going to roll over and let A&M take an easy win, especially after they had lost both of their prior games over the course of the weekend, and designated hitter Garrett Michel smashed a two-run shot of his own to tie the game at two in the top of the second inning.

Knowing a duplicate of last night was not an option, Texas A&M plated a trio of runs in the very next half inning off of a groundout by Terrence Kiel II, an RBI single by Gavin Grahovac, and a wild pitch that scored Bear Harrison.

The third inning saw the Farmers further their lead by a single run with another wild pitch that allowed Blake Binderup to score easily, giving A&M a 6-2 lead.

The score remained the same until the top of the sixth inning, when Sun Devils center fielder Dominic Longo launched a ball into the left field stands to shorten the lead to three.

That would spell the end of the offensive production for Arizona State, as the bottom half of the same inning saw a groundout by freshman shortstop Boston Kellner and a single from freshman third baseman Nico Partida score a total of three runs, putting the score at the 9-3 result that the game ultimately finished with.

In his third start of the year, starting pitcher Aiden Sims went 4.2 innings in a no-decision, allowing three hits, two earned runs, walking three, and striking out four on 84 pitches.

After the game, Michael Earley praised the response of his team after Saturday's loss and how they were able to make the turnaround and get a win a day later.

"I was upset with the fact that we got run ruled, but I think looking back, we did some things better than I thought," Earley said to the media. "At the same time, a response and the fact that we did get our butts kicked, we did an awesome job (tonight). We controlled the strike zone, threw strikes, got runners, we did a great job."

Earley continued by acknowledging the test that his team received against UCLA, and applauded the overall performance throughout the weekend.

"All of this throws a challenge at your team, and you see how they handle it, and we got a test a little bit in game two," Earley said. "We responded, and there were all kinds of positives to take out of the weekend."

The Aggies will return to College Station Tuesday at 4:00 PM when they play host to the Incarnate Word Cardinals for some midweek action.