Gavin Grahovac was a one-man wrecking crew for Texas A&M on Thursday night, homering twice and driving in five runs as the No. 7 Aggies handed No. 21 Mississippi State a 6-3 loss in the series opener in College Station.
Grahovac led off the bottom of the first inning with a solo home run off Evan Siary, who was making his second consecutive weekend start in place of the injured Nate Dohm. The Bulldogs (16-7, 2-2 Southeastern Conference) battled back in the third against Texas A&M ace Ryan Prager, taking advantage of an error and using three straight hits to score twice as David Mershon’s single tied the game and Hunter Hines’ RBI hit gave MSU a 2-1 lead.
Freshman Nolan Stevens relieved Siary after a leadoff single in the Aggies’ half of the fifth, and Stevens allowed the first three batters he faced to reach as Texas A&M (20-2, 2-2) tied the game on an Ali Camarillo single. Stevens struck out the next batter, but Grahovac then launched a go-ahead grand slam off the scoreboard in left-center to put the Bulldogs in a 6-2 hole.
MSU got one run back on an opposite-field solo homer by Hines in the eighth and Stevens held the Aggies scoreless the rest of the way, but the Bulldogs were unable to climb any further back.
The two teams continue their series Friday night, with Khal Steven on the mound for MSU and Tanner Jones starting for Texas A&M. Switch-pitcher Jurrangelo Cijntje starts for the Bulldogs in the series finale Saturday, opposing Aggies lefty Justin Lamkin.
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Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 37 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
