COLLEGE STATION – Walker Janek went 4-for-5 with a game-tying home run and Malachi Lott hit a grand slam, but the No. 4 Texas A&M Aggies were able to summon a ninth-inning rally of their own to stay unbeaten with a 9-8 win at Blue Bell Park.
Sam Houston (11-6) had worked its way back from as much as a 6-run deficit to tie it in the eighth inning on a leadoff home run by Janek, but A&M (17-0) got a pair of walks, a hit batter and a bloop single in its final at-bat, winning it on a bases-loaded free pass to sophomore Kaeden Kent.
With the win Texas A&M remains as one of two unbeaten teams in the nation, while the Kats were unable to win their third straight over the Aggies dating back to 2021.
Chandler David took the loss, falling to 1-2, while Chris Cortez moved to 2-0 for A&M with the win, despite surrendering the lead in the eighth.
Sam Houston trailed 6-0 after just two innings, and 8-3 after four before a grand slam by Lott surged the Kats back into it, setting Janek up to tie it two frames later.
Janek finished with four hits, while Easton Loyd and Lott each had two apiece, giving eight of the Kats' 12 hits on the night to the top three hitters in the lineup.
Michael Watson got the start for the Kats but lasted just 1.2 innings before Rome Shubert came in to throw 1.1 scoreless in relief. Logan Hewitt did the bulk of the work with 4.0 frames of relief, punching out four without walking a batter.
The Aggies showed off the power in the early going with three home runs in the first two innings to stake itself to a 6-0 lead. Jace LaViolette had two of them, along with freshman Gavin Grahovac.
But the Kats began their comeback in the third when Jeffrey David split the gap in left-center field for an RBI double with two outs, and an inning later Loyd delivered a 2-run single with two away to cut the lead to 6-3.
The Kats then turned to Logan Hewitt and the reliever surrendered a pair of runs in the fourth to push the lead to 8-3 before holding the Aggies right there with work through the eighth.
That kept Sam Houston in striking distance and singles by Jace Martinez, Loyd and Janek in the top of the sixth loaded the bases to set the table for Lott who deposited a 3-2 pitch from Peyton Smith into right-center field for a grand slam which pushed the Bearkats to within a run at 8-7.
The score held there until Janek's next at-bat when he greeted reliever Cortez with a leadoff solo home run to center field that completed the comeback and knotted the game at 8-8.
But after the Kats weren't able to add on, a leadoff walk to pinch hitter Caden Sorrell came back to bite the Kats. A hit batter followed and a 1-out bloop single by Ali Camarillo loaded them up for Kent, who drew a 3-1 count before looking at the game-winning ball four.
The Bearkats will now complete their 8-game road trip this weekend when they open Conference USA play at NM State. Game one from Las Cruces is set for a 7:00 pm CT first pitch and will be aired on ESPN+.
POSTGAME NOTES
- Walker Janek's 3-hit game extended his season-opening hit streak to 17 games. He is still the lone Kat to have hit safely in all 17 games this year and has hit in 21 consecutive games overall, dating back to the end of the 2023 season.
- His hit streak is the longest such streak by a Bearkat to open a season since Todd Sebek hit safely in 18 consecutive games to start the 2008 season.
- Malachi Lott's grand slam in the sixth inning was the first of the season for the Bearkats.
- The relief appearance was the second of Logan Hewitt's second career appearance vs Texas A&M, having pitched against the Aggies a year ago. In those two appearances he has thrown 6.1 total innings, striking out nine without issuing a walk.
