Texas A&M Remains Idle At No. 7 In Latest D1Baseball Rankings
Texas A&M baseball dominated the competition at the Kubota College Baseball Series in Arlington.
Unfortunately, everyone else impressed in their matchups to keep the national rankings similar.
The Aggies remained idle at No. 7 in the latest D1 Baseball rankings after going 4-0 with wins over Lamar, Arizona State and USC. A&M's pitching has remained the backbone of consistency while the offense has emerged as one of the nation's finest.
"It's an offense that is going to hit you if you make a mistake, for sure," right fielder Braden Montgomery said. "If you walk guys, then we're going to take advantage of it. It's a special offense."
The Aggies outscored all three opponents 23-8 during the Kubota College Baseball Series at Globe Life Field. A&M secured a 4-0 win on Friday and later a 10-5 victory on Sunday against the Sun Devils before besting the Trojans 9-3 on Saturday afternoon.
Texas A&M Athletics
In Sunday's finale, left-hander Justin Lampkin delivered four quality innings, allowing one run on four hits. Catcher Hank Bard got the offense humming with his bases-clearing RBI double in the first.
Montgomery, who took two balls to the ribs in Game 1 against the Sun Devils, earned his payback with a no-doubt grand slam to the second deck to make it 7-0.
"It felt great being able to play against the Pac-12 and play against a team that gave me a couple of booboos the other day," Montgomery said postgame. "It felt awesome."
In the three games, A&M's pitching staff posted a 2.67 combined ERA while recording 31 strikeouts against seven walks. Left-hander Shane Sdao and right-hander Weston Moss looked impressive, combining for six strikeouts against three hits.
A&M currently ranks fourth among SEC teams in the latest D1Baseball standings. Arkansas (No. 2), LSU (No. 3) and Florida (No. 4) round of the top five alongside No. 1 Wake Forest and No. 5 TCU.
Tennessee (No. 8) and Vanderbilt (No. 9) were listed in the top 10, along with Oregon State (No. 6) and Clemson (No. 10). A&M begins conference play against the Gators on March 15.
The Aggies travel to Austin to take on in-state rival Texas Tuesday night at UFCU Disch-Falk Field beginning at 6:30 p.m. A&M returns to Blue Bell Park Wednesday for a 6 p.m. first pitch against Texas Southern before welcoming in Rhode Island for a three-game series beginning Friday.
Aggies coach Jim Schlossnagle announced Sunday that right-hander Chris Cortez would start his second-midweek appearance. The third-year manager did not announce a starter for Wednesday's matchup against the Tigers.