AUSTIN, Texas (KBTX) – If there was one bright spot in Texas A&M baseball’s 6-5 loss to No. 1 Texas Sunday, giving the Longhorns their first series sweep over the Aggies since 2010, it might have been the reemergence of Caden Sorrell.
His superman dive in right field was the defensive highlight of a game that had leather flashing in every corner of the ballpark. If it wasn’t for his solo home run in the seventh inning, the Aggies would have been held without a long ball in three straight games for the first time this season.
It’s fitting that the biggest spark to A&M’s weekend wear’s the No. 13 on his back, because 13 is the magic number for the Aggie’s postseason hopes, a fact that becomes colder and harder after dropping three games this weekend.
KBTX News 3 at Six Weekday EXTENDED(Recurring)
It has been well documented over the last several seasons that Southeastern Conference baseball teams that collect 13 conference wins have an approximately 40% chance of earning a bid into the NCAA Tournament, using data since 1999. Each year, the SEC Network posts these odds on a graphic shown during the SEC Tournament as an effort to boast the strength of schedule the conference welds.
In that timespan, five teams have landed on 13 wins, while also ranked under No. 30 in RPI. All five teams have gotten into the NCAA tournament.
KBTX News 3 at Six Weekday EXTENDED(Recurring)
Texas head coach Jim Schlossnagle said he believes these numbers should hold up this season. Currently, eight SEC teams sit in the top 15 of the RPI rankings, including all of the top five.
“I think in today’s day and age, with the super conferences and so many teams in one league, if you’re going to look at putting the best 64 teams in there, then you have to look at who you’re playing in this conference that you’re in,” Schlossnagle said.
A&M did itself no favors this weekend as it sits squarely on the bubble of those two key statistics with three conference series left to play. At 8-13 in conference play, A&M will need to gather at least five wins in its final nine conference games. After the weekend series, A&M is 41st in the RPI and will hope wins against RPI No. 9 LSU and RPI No. 2 Georgia catapults them into the top 30 of the rankings.
While the chance at hosting a regional was slim for the Aggies, that dream floated off into the Austin sunset with the series sweep.
Aggie head coach Michael Earley knows the task that remains for his team.
“We’re chasing everyone,” he said. “We know what we’ve got to do to get there, but it really is one game at a time.”
Key to A&M’s stretch run is finding the timely hit. Over the weekend, A&M went 4-for-29 with runners in scoring position, including an 0-for-14 mark in the first two games of the series.
In both Friday and Saturday’s game, the Aggies had the game-tying run in scoring position, but freshman outfielder Terrence Kiel II struck out looking to end both games. Sunday, A&M had the game-tying run on third and the go-ahead run on second with two outs in the top of the eighth, but Jace LaViolette popped up in the infield to end the threat.
“They did a really good job on the mound, as did we, and we didn’t get it done, period,” Earley said. “There’s no other answer than that and we’ve got to be better.”
The season stretch run begins Tuesday with a tough Lamar squad that comes into Blue Bell Park ranked No. 64 in the RPI. Then A&M hosts LSU and Missouri before traveling to Georgia to close out the season, with a trip to Houston in between. The Aggies must sweep a bad Missouri squad to have a chance and then take games from the Tigers and Bulldogs.
Sorrell, who tried to will the Aggies to a win Sunday, said they’ll get those 13 wins “easy.” Schlossnagle, who knows this Aggie squad intimately, agreed.
“I’m the coach at Texas, but I have full confidence in the kids on that team and Coach Earley and what they’re going to be capable of doing,” he said. “I have no doubt.”
KBTX senior Texas A&M sportswriter Travis L. Brown can be reached by email at travis.brown@kbtx.com.
KBTX Senior Texas A&M Sportswriter(KBTX)
Copyright 2025 KBTX. All rights reserved.