Texas A&M relief pitcher Will Johnston had the postseason on his mind Sunday morning. Should the Aggies want to make a run in the Southeastern Conference tournament or win an NCAA tournament regional, they would need to win three straight games, he thought.
Sunday was a good time to prove they could do just that.
With a decisive 8-2 win over Mississippi State at Blue Bell Park, the Aggies recorded their first Southeastern Conference sweep since the 2019 season and showed they can perform consistently for three days in a row.
“To be able to take three, to be able to go do it in a regional or the SEC tournament, whatever it is, we hadn’t done it in a while, and it feels really good to do it,” Johnston said.
The sophomore left-hander was a key contributor to what head coach Jim Schlossnagle called one of A&M’s best pitching games of late. Johnston threw 2 1/3 perfect innings, striking out five of the seven batters he faced to earn his second save of the season.
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Freshman left-hander Ryan Prager started for the Aggies (33-16, 17-10) and lasted 4 1/3 innings, giving up one unearned run on four hits and two walks with three strikeouts.
Freshman right-hander Robert Hogan (3-1) followed and earned the win, allowing one run on two hits and one walk with two strikeouts over 2 1/3 innings before Johnston took over to close out the Aggies’ final regular season home series. It was also the first time A&M held an SEC opponent to less than three runs in the final game of a series.
“I thought Prager did an awesome job, and that’s a big step for us,” Schlossnagle said. “Big highlight for us moving forward. And then I thought Hogan got the outs we needed him to get, and Will was outstanding.”
A throwing error by left fielder Dylan Rock allowed the Bulldogs (25-27, 9-18) to score the first run of the game in the top of the fourth inning, but the Aggies charged back in the bottom half, plating three runs on an RBI single by Ryan Targac, an error and a Trevor Werner sacrifice fly.
The Aggies added three more runs in the sixth when two leadoff walks began a rally that featured a Kole Kaler RBI single, another Werner RBI single and a sacrifice fly by Rock.
After Mississippi State managed another run in the top of the seventh, A&M added more insurance on a two-run double by Austin Bost in the bottom of the eighth.
Johnston then breezed through the ninth, striking out two and getting RJ Yeager to ground out to third to end the game.
“You can kind of see [Johnston] gaining more and more confidence, and that’s a good sign for us, because he’s really good,” Schlossnagle said.
Mississippi State starter Cade Smith (4-3) took the loss, allowing three unearned runs on four hits in 4 1/3 innings of work.
Sunday also marked the first time A&M didn’t allow a home run in SEC play in five games. It took a special effort by Rock to help end that streak as he knocked a clear-cut homer back into the ballpark in the second inning, limiting Kellum Clark to a double. The Bulldogs failed to bring him home in the second.
“That was awesome,” Prager said. “I didn’t execute my pitch, and I’m sitting there kind of praying for it, and Dylan kept it in the park and gave us a chance.”
Beyond confidence, the win Sunday also gave A&M a boost in the conference standings. With Vanderbilt winning the final game of its series at Arkansas 5-0, the Aggies and Razorbacks are tied atop the SEC West standings at 17-10. A&M holds the head-to-head tiebreaker over Arkansas thanks to its 2-1 series win earlier this season.
It’s the first time the Aggies have held a piece of the SEC West lead since the second to the last game of the 2016 regular season. A&M sat tied with Mississippi State but conceded the division title to the Bulldogs by losing its final game of the season to No. 6 Ole Miss. The Bulldogs claimed the title by beating Arkansas.
A&M travels to Ole Miss next weekend with eyes on claiming its first SEC West title, which would equate to the second seed in the SEC tournament. Tennessee already has the top seed clinched with a 22-5 league record heading into the final weekend.
“Anytime there’s a championship to be played for, we want to win it,” Schlossnagle said. “I don’t care if it’s the Houston College Classic or [the Frisco Classic] or the SEC West. If there is a championship to play for, we want to win it. We just have to take care of our business, and we can’t rely on anybody else.”
NOTES — Werner finished the series 4 for 11 with a team-high six RBIs. Targac paced the Aggies with a 7 for 10 weekend at the plate and also drove in two runs. ... Rock extended his team-high on-base streak to 40 games with a third-inning double. ... With the win, the Aggies moved up to No. 19 in the RPI according to WarrenNolan.com’s live rankings.