Texas A&M stormed back from five runs down to beat Lamar 7-5, giving Michael Earley his first postseason win as head coach.
Texas A&M looked buried, beaten and dangerously close to turning the College Station Regional opener into a nightmare.
Then the Aggies woke up.
Down five runs to Lamar, Texas A&M punched back with power, patience and late-game pressure to steal a 7-5 win Friday night at Blue Bell Park.
It was Michael Earley’s first postseason victory as a head coach, and it came the hard way ... from a 5-0 hole with the season’s momentum sitting on the edge of disaster.
Lamar didn’t blink early.
The Cardinals grabbed a first-inning run after an infield single, an error and an RBI knock from AJ Taylor.
They added two more in the third behind hits from Beau Durbin, Taylor and Jake Wagoner.
Then Braden Benton and Kevin Duran launched solo homers in the fourth to make it 5-0.
That’s when the Aggies finally stopped sleepwalking.
Gavin Grahovac opened the bottom of the fifth with his 20th home run of the season, giving him one of just nine 20-homer seasons in Texas A&M history.
Caden Sorrell was hit by a pitch, and Chris Hacopian blasted a two-run shot to left-center to make it 5-3.
Suddenly, Lamar had problems.
Texas A&M tied it in the seventh when Nico Partida drew a bases-loaded walk and Bear Harrison followed with a sacrifice fly.
Harrison also reached base safely for the 29th straight game and was hit by a pitch for the 19th time this season.
The eighth inning got messy for Lamar and beautiful for A&M.
Ben Royo doubled down the left-field line, Travis Chestnut dropped a pinch-hit sacrifice bunt, and a throwing error let the go-ahead run score.
Hacopian later added a sacrifice fly for insurance, finishing 2-for-3 with two runs, three RBI and a homer.
The bullpen gave A&M a chance to breathe. Gavin Lyons threw four strong innings, allowing one run on two hits with four strikeouts.
Clayton Freshcorn closed it with two hitless, scoreless innings to earn the win.
Earley credited Lamar’s starter but loved his team’s response.
“We just kept playing,” Earley said. “That’s a really tough team.”
Hacopian kept it simpler after his homer.
“My mindset doesn't change based on the game; it's the same process,” he said.
Now Texas A&M advances to Saturday night’s winner’s bracket game against Texas State or USC.
The Aggies survived ... Barely. But in regional baseball, barely counts.
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