Texas A&M opens SEC Tournament play against Auburn as the No. 3 seed, powered by Gavin Grahovac and one of college baseball’s hottest offenses.
Texas A&M baseball rolls into Hoover with a target on its back and a little revenge sitting right in front of it.
The No. 10 Aggies open SEC Tournament play Friday evening against No. 6 seed Auburn at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium, roughly 30 minutes after Arkansas and Texas finish their 3 p.m. game.
Texas A&M earned the No. 3 seed and a double bye after closing the regular season with a series win over No. 13 Mississippi State.
That’s a big-time bounce for Michael Earley’s group, which enters 39-13 and suddenly looks like one of the most dangerous lineups in the country.
Auburn, though, isn’t just another bracket opponent. The Tigers already took two of three from Texas A&M earlier this season, making this matchup feel a little sharper.
The Aggies avoided a sweep in that series thanks to Chris Hacopian, who drove in all four runs in a 4-3 win.
Now the stage is bigger, and the margin is thinner.
Texas A&M has the resume to make noise. The Aggies are 20-15 all-time in SEC Tournament play and 7-3 in tournament openers. Under Earley, they’re 2-1 in Hoover, and this team arrives with serious individual firepower.
The Aggies placed four players on the All-SEC First Team: Clayton Freshcorn, Gavin Grahovac, Hacopian and Caden Sorrell. Nico Partida and Jorian Wilson landed on the All-SEC Freshman Team, while Grahovac and Sorrell also earned All-Defensive honors.Gavin Grahovac
Grahovac has been the engine. He leads Texas A&M with a .351 batting average, 70 runs, 74 hits and three triples.
In SEC play, he topped the league in slugging percentage at .754, runs with 40, RBI with 43 and home runs with 13.
As a team, the Aggies rank top 10 nationally in home runs with 114, runs with 477 and slugging percentage at .575.
On the mound, they’re ninth in strikeout-to-walk ratio at 3.11 and third in walks allowed per nine innings at 2.97.
Auburn already punched Texas A&M once. Friday is the Aggies’ chance to punch back.
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