Surging Texas A&M baseball team frustrates South Carolina in series opener

Texas A&M came into Founders Park as one of the hottest teams in the nation, winners of six straight and the No. 3 ranked team in the country.

It took about seven batters to show why. The Aggies jumped on top of South Carolina quickly in the first inning and cruised to a 9-2 victory Friday night in the series opener.

“Texas A&M played really well tonight — us, not as much,” South Carolina coach Mark Kingston said. “We have to be ready to go (Saturday) and we will be.”

Texas A&M (27-3, 7-3 SEC) scored four runs off Gamecock starter Eli Jones (2-1) before the second out was recorded. Jones only lasted 2.2 innings, allowing seven runs on eight hits before departing after 92 pitches. It was the shortest SEC outing of the junior’s career.

Jackson Appel, Haydon Schott and Ali Camarillo had RBIs in the first inning. That was more than enough support for Aggies starter Ryan Prager. Gavin Grahovac added a two-run home run in the third inning.

A positive for USC on Friday came from the bullpen.

Roman Kimball, Joey Wittig, Michael Polk and Dylan Eskew combined to pitch the final 6.1 innings and allowed two runs on five hits. Wittig left after facing his fourth batter with some tightness in his forearm. Kimball started the season in the weekend rotation but has struggled of late. He pitched 3.1 innings and allowed just one run.

“I thought everyone that came out of the bullpen was a bright spot,” Kingston said. “Everyone that came in represented themselves well. If there are any positives tonight, it was the bullpen came in and did really well.”

The offensive woes for the No. 22 Gamecocks (21-9, 5-5) started in an 8-0 midweek loss to Georgia Southern and continued Friday night. Prager twice struck out the side and finished with 12 strikeouts in 6.1 innings. South Carolina struck out a total of 17 times while finishing with just six hits after collecting four on Wednesday night. That’s 29 strikeouts in the last two games.

The sophomore left-hander has 63 strikeouts in 43 innings this season.

Note: South Carolina assistant coach Monte Lee was ejected in the ninth inning. He is suspended for one game and will not be allowed in the dugout on Saturday.

Games this week

• Saturday: vs. Texas A&M, 4 pm (SEC Network Plus)
• Sunday: vs. Texas A&M, 1:30 pm (SEC Network Plus)