Pinch-Hit Walk-Off: Aggies Run-Rule Arkansas to Take Series Ahead of SEC Tournament

After splitting the first two games with the Arkansas Razorbacks, the Texas A&M Aggies piled on runs late in their third matchup against the SEC West Champions to run-rule them and take the series.

May 17, 2024; College Station, Texas; USA: Arkansas Razorbacks sophomore Wehiwa Aloy walks back to the dugout following a strike out. / Matt Guzman - AllAggies on SI

After two games of weather-based drama, packed stands, and SEC West-implying baseball, the Texas A&M Aggies took to their home field to face the Arkansas Razorbacks for one more game.

Olsen Field filled up once again Saturday afternoon as the final regular season game for the Aggies went underway, and it was clearly set to a showdown. The Aggies had already locked up a top spot in the SEC Tournament and officially conceded their half of the conference to Arkansas with Game 2's loss, but the series was still in the air.

And the Aggies took it.

Scoring just four combined runs in the previous two games seemingly lit a fire underneath coach Jim Schlossnagle's squad, as it came out of the gate bats swinging to notch two quick runs in the bottom of the first followed by two more in the next frame.

Texas A&M leaped out to a 4-1 lead — Arkansas' Hudson White homered to left field to scratch the scorecard for the Razorbacks — before Arkansas responded with a strong inning of its own to tie the game at four runs a piece. The Aggies did capitalize and bring in another runner in the bottom of the third to take a one-run lead, but the good news was that the damage had been done.

From there, Arkansas didn't score another run, which would have meant Texas A&M would have won after the third inning with just five runs. But it wasn't close to being done.

May 17, 2024; College Station, Texas; USA: A young Texas A&M Aggies fan fires a bubble machine following a run scored. / Matt Guzman - AllAggies on SI

With a one-run lead, the Aggies headed to the bottom of the sixth inning. Three outs later, and they had a seven-lead, courtesy of four hits and a few wild pitches that allowed six total runs. As the seventh inning approached, that remained the case.

Texas A&M got a runner on base with its top-of-the-order heading to the plate. Grant Grahovac stepped up, hit a home run to make it nine runs, and suddenly, it was Ryan Targac's turn to bat.

The senior had a year full of ups and downs. Two years ago, he was an integral part of the Aggies' lineup that got them to host a super regional. This year, however, he'd fallen out of the lineup and when Schlossnagle wanted first-base coach Michael Earley in the dugout for bigger matchups, Targac was sent out to accompany any lead-off runners.

And his single scored the winning run.

"I've coached a lot of awesome guys in their senior year," Schlossnagle said. "I remember taking some great players off the field with two outs in the ninth inning to let the crowd appreciate them, but to end the game against a great team, that probably ranks No. 1."

Targac brought in Jace LaViolette to make the Aggies' lead 10, which by the SEC's rulebook, constitutes an instant victory given that it was in the seventh inning. Game 3 finished 14-4, the Aggies won the series and Targac got his storybook moment.

Now, Texas A&M can set its sights on the SEC Tournament, where it can get some much-needed practice before likely hosting a regional. Those games, hosted in Birmingham, Alabama, are set to begin May 21.