No. 1 Texas A&M baseball saw its seven-game win streak snapped Sunday with a 10-9 loss to No. 14 Alabama Saturday at Sewell-Thomas Stadium.
A&M starter Justin Lamkin struggled for his fourth straight start, (35-5, 13-5), allowing five runs on five hits in 1 2/3 innings. He walked one and struck out one. In his last three outings, Lamkin has allowed 13 runs, while never making it into the fourth inning. Saturday marked his second consecutive start where he was lifted before the end of the second.
The majority of the damage done to Lamkin came on one swing of the bat. A day after hitting a grand slam against the Aggies in a loss, Alabama (25-15, 7-11) catcher Mac Guscette launched another four-RBI home run in the bottom of the second as part of a five-run frame. Through the weekend, Guscette collected eight hits and 16 RBIs.
A&M chipped away through the middle innings, thanks to four RBIs from leadoff hitter Gavin Grahovac. The freshman collected 10 RBIs of his own in the three-game series.
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The Aggies pulled ahead 8-7 after a three-run sixth, which included an RBI triple from Travis Chestnut and a two-run home run by Jace LaViolette. It was A&M’s lone home run of the game, but counted as LaViolette’s 21st, which tied his production from his freshman season.
Through Friday’s doubleheader, A&M compiled eight home runs, combining for 28 total runs in the pair of wins.
A solo home run from Crimson Tide third baseman Gage Miller in the bottom of the sixth and a two-RBI single by second baseman Bryce Elgin in the seventh was enough to put Alabama over the edge.
The Aggies had runners on second and third with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, but couldn’t get the tying run across the plate as Chestnut flew out to right field.
Alabama reliever Alton Davis, who stranded A&M in the ninth, picked up the win.
The Aggies used six arms in the game, including bringing back Chris Cortez and Shane Sdao in the final 1 2/3 innings after the pair pitched yesterday. Freshman reliever Kaiden Wilson, who saw his second action of the season in an inning against Air Force Tuesday, was handed the loss. He allowed two runs on three hits in 2/3 of an inning.
The Aggies return to action Tuesday for a midweek matchup against Houston, who is led by head coach Todd Whitting, a former A&M head coach Jim Schlossnagle assistant.