Patient Aggies pass the baton in 17-0 run-rule of South Carolina

Game #34: Texas A&M 17, South Carolina 0 (7 innings)
Records: Texas A&M (19-15, 5-9), South Carolina (20-16, 2-12)
WP: Justin Lamkin (3-3)
LP: Matthew Becker (2-3)
Box Score

Passing the baton.

In a 4x400-meter relay, it's quick and exciting.

When Texas A&M baseball does it, opponents experience a slow and excruciating existence.

As South Carolina can attest, the Aggies' patient approach crippled an erratic pitching staff in a 17-0 rout that was called after just seven innings on Friday night.

"They really executed," A&M head coach Michael Earley said. "They did exactly what we wanted. They threw it in the zone; we hit it. They threw it out of the zone; we took it. Consistently, one through nine, throughout the game."

In front of 6,768 at Blue Bell Park, A&M worked eight walks to go along with three hit-by-pitches. Of those 11 free passes, 10 scored as the Ags needed just 10 hits to outclass the Gamecocks.

In doing so, it's A&M's fifth straight win, fourth straight conference victory and gets the Aggies to 5-9 in the SEC as their NCAA Tournament odds continue to grow.

Beyond those postseason hopes, confidence is growing by the day in the A&M clubhouse. That much is obvious.

"Just continue to play good baseball like we have been as of late," Earley said. "Continue to just execute the things we got to execute. We've got a really good team, and when we stay out of our way, we got a chance to win a lot of baseball games."

Perhaps the most confident among them is Bear Harrison.

The St. Mary's transfer was 2-for-2 with a double and a fifth-inning grand slam to finish with a career-high seven RBIs.

The sophomore backstop now has eight home runs and is slugging .898 with a ridiculous 1.441 OPS.

"I have so much confidence up there right now," Harrison said. "I feel like nothing can beat me. The ball's not bigger, but when I'm hitting it, it's so powerful right now. It feels really good off the bat."

Kaeden Kent went 3-for-4 with a two-run blast in the third, and Jace LaViolette went 2-for-3.

After scoring four in the first, the Aggies added two in the third, two in the fourth, seven in the fifth and two in the sixth.

Of A&M's nine starters, eight scored a run.

Raegan Huffman, TexAgs

Justin Lamkin’s record improved to 3-3 in Friday night’s win.

"That's what you want to do," Earley said. "When you're ready to play and ready to hit, and you're on time, you give yourself a chance, and we were just — as a whole collectively, consistently, one through nine — on time and taking care of business in the strike zone."

In stark contrast to South Carolina's struggles, Justin Lamkin was magnificent on the mound.

The left-handed starter cruised across six scoreless innings, allowing just four base runners on three hits and a walk while striking out five.

"It's awesome. You love that as a pitcher," Lamkin said of the run support. "It's fun to see those guys do that, and it makes my job a whole lot easier, but in my head, I'm still thinking it's a 0-0 ballgame and trying to get those guys back in here as quick as possible so they can keep doing their thing."

Behind Lamkin, only Brad Rudis was required to nail down A&M's third shutout of the year.

Indeed, it was one of the Aggies' most complete performances of the year.

Their next challenge is to do so consistently.

"They work really, really hard, man," Earley said. "It's good to see a reward like this, but we got to come out and take care of business tomorrow."

A&M goes for its first SEC sweep when the series concludes on Saturday at 2 p.m. CT.