Takeaways from Texas A&M's final fall exhibition vs. TCU

Pitching dominated the night for Texas A&M in an 8-4 exhibition victory over TCU on Friday evening.

Over 5,900 fans turned out to watch the Aggie arms thwart the visiting Horned Frogs in the second and final fall sneak peek at A&M’s 2026 club.

TCU did not get a runner to third (or score a run) until the ninth inning of a 12-frame affair. From the second inning until the seventh, the Aggies retired 16 consecutive Frogs, and overall, the Maroon & White racked up 11 strikeouts.

Again, an unofficial box score has been provided at the bottom, and this recap will not feature traditional play-by-play or an overarching narrative.

These are just a trio of takeaways from an old Southwest Conference matchup on an October night in Aggieland.

1. Aiden Sims was strong in back-to-back weeks. Against Sam Houston, it was two perfect frames with four punchouts. Against TCU, it was literally the same thing. Yes, he retired all 12 batters he faced in the exhibitions, striking out 67 percent of them with a 93-94 mph fastball and an absolutely disgusting slider.

Now a sophomore, the 6-foot-2, 180-pound right-hander is poised to build off a true-freshman campaign that saw Sims make six appearances, including three starts, as he fanned 13 in an even 13.0 innings of work. A year of development with Jason Kelly and an offseason under Jeremy McMillan has the Forney kid looking like he’s more than capable of slashing that 7.62 ERA (and 1.46 WHIP) and potentially factor into A&M’s weekend rotation.

2. Caden Sorrell and Gavin Grahovac want to remind you that they’re really stinkin’ good. The former homered on the first pitch he saw — an 85 mph slider from right-hander Trever Baumler —  in the first inning, and the latter sizzled an RBI double off the top of the wall in left in the third, a rocket that traveled at a cruising altitude of approximately 30 feet for 350 feet...and that’s against a noticable uptick in pitching from what Sam Houston brought to Blue Bell Park last week.

3. Relief options are emerging. Atop that list is Ethan Darden, who was great in a two-inning outing on Friday, retiring all six Frogs he faced and striking out two. The fastball is not super firm, but the cross-fire action makes for an uncomfortable at-bat.

Juan Vargas was in the mid-90s with a nice breaking ball during his scoreless seventh inning. Clayton Freshcorn was stout in the early goings as well. Even southpaws Cole Hubert and Hunter Vincent tossed goose eggs in the eighth and 10th, respectively, though Hubert danced through traffic while Vincent sat the Frogs down 1-2-3.

For a pitching staff that will get reinforcements once Shane Sdao, Josh Stewart and Caden McCoy are healthy, the more surprises, the better.

Bonus: TCU outhit A&M, but the Ags were extremely patient. The Maroon & White worked 13 walks and received a pair of hit-by-pitches. They parlayed those free passes into five of their eight runs. Meanwhile, A&M pitching issued just three freebies.

And with that, the next time we’ll see Earley’s Aggies will be in January as the 2026 campaign will be here before we know it.

Line Score
TCU - 0 0 0   0 0 0   0 0 1   0 1 2   4R 10H 2E
A&M - 1 0 2   2 0 0   0 0 2   1 0 X   8R 6H 2E

Unofficial Box Score

Texas A&M Position Players
1. Gavin Grahovac (R) - DH - 1-for-4, 2B, BB, 2 RBI, 2 K
2. Caden Sorrell (L) - CF - 2-for-4, HR, R, 2 RBI
3. Nico Partida (R) - 3B - 0-for-4, K, GIDP
4. Jake Duer (L) - LF - 1-for-3, BB
5. Boston Kellner (R) - 2B - 0-for-1, R, 2 BB, GIDP
6. Bear Harrison (R) - C - 0-for-3, 2 K
7. Terrence Kiel II (S) - RF - 1-for-3, R, K, GIDP
8. Ben Royo (R) - SS - 1-for-4, R, BB, 3 RBI, K
9. Blake Binderup (R) - 1B - 0-for-2, 2 BB, SB - E3 in 7th
10. Wesley Jordan (R) - DH - 0-for-1, R, 2 BB, HBP

(Lineup used after the ninth inning)
1. Gavin Grahovac (R) - DH - See above
PR. Blake LaBuda (R) - Pinch-ran in ninth, R, BB
2. Jorian Wilson (R) - CF - 0-for-2 
3. Zane Becker (R) - C - 0-for-3
4. Luke Billings (R) - RF - 0-for-0, HBP, R
5. Wesley Jordan (R) - EH - See above
6. Ben Royo (R) - SS - See above
7. Travis Chestnut (R) - 2B - 0-for-0, 2 BB, SB
8. Sawyer Farr (S) - 3B - 0-for-1, 2 K 
9. Blake Binderup (R) - 1B - See above
10. Sam Erickson (R) - LF - 0-for-1

Texas A&M Pitchers
Weston Moss - RHP - 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K
Clayton Freshcorn - RHP - 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K
Aiden Sims - RHP - 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K
Ethan Darden - LHP - 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K
Juan Vargas - RHP - 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K
Cole Hubert - LHP - 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 0 K
MJ Bollinger - RHP - 1.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 1 K
Hunter Vincent - LHP - 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K
Gavin Lyons - RHP - 1.0 IP, 0 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 0 K - E1 in 11th
Luke Billings - RHP - 1.0 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 0 K