Game #32: Texas State 9, No. 18 Texas A&M 8
Records: Texas A&M (25-7, 7-5), Texas State (22-10, 8-4)
WP: Cade Smith (2-0)
LP: Juan Vargas (2-1)
Save: Wade Cooper (5)
Box Score
SAN MARCOS, Texas — Offense, defense, special teams.
Three phases in football determine outcomes.
In baseball, three phases are pitching, defense and timely hitting.
On a maddening and drizzly Tuesday night at the newly-renamed Irvine-Rasmussen Ballpark in San Marcos, an argument could be made that No. 18 Texas A&M was outplayed in each category as the Aggies suffered a 9-8 defeat to Texas State.
“Flush it. Move on,” Aggie skipper Michael Earley said postgame. “They got us today. They beat us. They made some mistakes, too, but in the end, they won the game. We’re gonna have a good practice tomorrow and get ready for the weekend.”
The largest difference was in the third of the listed phases as the Bobcats scored seven of their runs with two outs, including Jaquae Stewart’s game-winning two-run single in the seventh.
Early two-out blows were Justin Vossos’ second-inning two-run double and Stewart’s third-inning two-run home run.
In each of those frames, the Bobcats plated three.
Meanwhile, the Aggie offense stranded 11 and was 3-for-15 with runners in scoring position. Texas State outhit A&M 13-10 with seven of those knocks coming with two outs.
“I think the big ones for me were second and third, less than two outs. You gotta score that run,” Earley said. “Runners on base with two outs, like I know that’s part of the stat, but that’s tough. … Those are the runs you got to cash in, and we didn’t do that today.”
Early, the potent and powerful A&M offense appeared destined for another runaway victory, taking a 3-0 lead on Gavin Grahovac’s second-inning solo homer.
Later, they seemed to complete a come-from-behind effort on Boston Kellner’s two-run homer in the fourth and RBI base hits by Chris Hacopian and Nico Partida to plate unearned runs in the sixth to pull ahead, 7-6.
However, the pitching was not up to par, as has been the case too often this spring.
Starter Cole Hubert and first-in-relief Gavin Lyons were tagged for three in the second and third, respectively. Grant Cunningham appeared to have steadied the ship through the middle innings, until Juan Vargas and Ethan Darden were ineffective in the ill-fated seventh.
“We did pitch well enough to win the game,” Earley said. “You bring a guy in (Vargas) to get a guy (Dawson Park) out, and he walks him, and then you bring in a lefty (Darden) for the lefty (Manny Salas), and he gets the guy out, and then we go hit, hit.
“You just gotta perform, and you gotta get outs. We didn’t do that.”
Then there’s the defense, which was only charged with one official error.
In the unofficial category, Grahovac dropped a pop-up in foul territory on a basket-catch attempt with two outs in the second. Three pitches later, Vossos — a former Aggie — doubled to tie the game. Thank a generous San Marcos scorekeeper that A&M’s “E” column wasn’t larger.
“That flyball, Gavin just needed to get around it, and he didn’t,” Earley said. “The wind was blowing across, and he just kind of took a bad route to it. Other than that, I don’t know if that was our only error. I know Chris (Hacopian) had a play he definitely should’ve made on turf.”
All around, the Aggies were not clean enough to win on Tuesday, but that’s not too uncommon in midweek action.
With the 2024 club being a rare exception, most A&M teams drop midweek games, including two a year ago, four in 2023 and one in 2022. The 2026 edition is now 7-1 on Tuesdays and 18-2 in non-conference. What’s next is what’s most alarming about Tuesday’s struggles.
Which brings us to the challenge of what Earley said: Flush it. Move on.
Fortunately, unlike the games on the gridiron, the Aggies don’t have to sit and stew for an entire week before playing again.
They’ve just got a big series set to begin on Friday.
