Texas A&M Drops Out Of D1 Baseball Rankings Following Sweep To Tennessee
A cold weekend in Knoxville leads to a cold start of this week's rankings for Texas A&M Aggies baseball.
After being swept by No. 12 Tennessee at Lindsey Nelson Stadium, the Aggies fell out of the D1Baseball rankings for the first time this season. A&M entered the week at No. 18 after losing two of three to top-ranked LSU in the SEC opener at Blue Bell Park.
While A&M (15-9, 1-5 SEC) managed to keep things close Saturday morning, Friday and Sunday were nightmares for the pitching staff. Nathan Dettmer allowed nine runs on eight hits and three wild pitches through five innings. Ty Sexton allowed a run in the seventh inning thanks to a solo home run by Blake Burke.
Offensively, the Aggies never found their footing, going 3 for 29 with three walks. Jack Moss and Hunter Haas each kept their hitting streaks alive with singles in the first and third inning, respectively. Hank Bard notched a single in the eighth inning and later scored on a groundout by Haas.
Sunday's matchup marked Justin Lampkin's first start as part of the weekend bullpen. He ultimately was the best part of the weekend, showing his consistency on weekdays could carry over to weekends with ease.
Lampkin finished with six strikeouts and a walk through 4.1 innings pitched. A five-run fifth from the Vols' offense gave him the loss, but a strong start likely earned him another week in the rotation.
Moss picked up his third home run of the year on a solo shot in the first inning to make it a 1-0 game. A&M also scored a pair of runs in the fourth and fifth thanks to a sacrifice fly from Trevor Werner and Haas, respectively.
A struggling outing from the bullpen hurt A&M's chances of mounting a late comeback. Former Sunday starter Chris Cortez allowed one run on one hit, three walks and a hit by pitch. Reliever Brandyn Garcia lasted 1.2 innings, allowing two runs on two hits and two walks.
The Aggies plated three in the ninth thanks to several timely hits from Moss, Austin Bost and Jace LaViolette, but never had enough players on the base path to keep the ball rolling.
LSU remained at No. 1 following winning two of three against Arkansas. Florida stayed at No. 3 after its series sweep over No. 13 Ole Miss. Meanwhile, the Vols moved back into the top 10 for the first time in two, jumping up two spots after the victory at home.
Currently, seven SEC programs remain inside the top 10, six of which — LSU, Florida, No. 4 Vanderbilt, No. 6 Arkansas, No. 9 South Carolina, and Tennessee — rank inside the top 10. Kentucky jumped five spots from No. 23 to No. 18 following its series victory against Alabama.
A&M, Ole Miss, and Missouri all dropped from the rankings after being swept by Tennessee, Florida and South Carolina, respectively. The Aggies will have a chance to make up ground Tuesday evening at home against No. 21 Texas for the annual Lone Star Showdown.
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