Women’s tennis wins second national title in three years

Texas A&M’s women’s tennis program is officially a dynasty, winning their second national title in three years with a 4-1 rout of Auburn Sunday night in Athens, Ga. It completes a remarkable run, where the third-seeded Aggies knocked off No. 5 North Carolina, No. 1 Georgia and the second-seeded Tigers in succession.

The Aggies won the doubles point in a tiebreaker, meaning the women only needed to win three singles matches to clinch the title. And the bottom of the rotation took care of things before A&M’s top seeds could complete their matches.

Sophomore Lexington Reed snagged the first singles point at No. 4 singles, winning 7-6, 6-3 over Auburn’s Merna Refaat, then Violeta Martinez took care of Ashton Bowers won at No. 5 singles in straight sets, 7-5, 6-1.

Daria Smetannikov, playing in No. 6 singles, won her final match as an Aggie to clinch the national title. After losing the first set, Smetannikov rallied to decisively take the next two sets to win 4-6, 6-2, 6-4. That left the top two A&M singles players, Lucciana Perez and Mia Kupres, still on the court in their respective third sets when the national championship was secured.

Perez ended her junior season at A&M with an unbeaten 28-0 record and as the nation’s No. 1 singles player.

The Aggies knocked off Georgia, who has become a bitter rival, 4-3 on their home court Saturday. The Aggies beat the Bulldogs in 2024 to win the national title, then lost to Georgia in the finals last year.

Baseball bounces back to take series from Mississippi State

After being obliterated Thursday night by No. 13 Mississippi State, No. 10 Texas A&M got off the mat and bashed their way past the Bulldogs in the final two games of the series, the last of the SEC regular season.

After jumping out to a 2-0 lead on home runs by third baseman Gavin Grahovac and designated hitter Chris Hacopian, A&M’s pitching collapsed in the top of the third, giving up 13 runs in the frame. Starter Ethan Darden was touched for two hits and three runs — two earned — before being lifted, and that’s when the floodgates opened. Reliever Gavin Lyons was ripped for five earned runs in 1/3 of an inning, followed by Grant Cunningham giving up another five while just getting one out. Reliever Hunter Bond came in to stop the bleeding, but gave up three more runs — two earned — in his two innings of work.

The Aggie bats battered Mississippi State ace Tomas Valincius, racking up nine hits and seven runs in five innings, but the horrific third inning proved to be decisive in an 18-11 loss.

The Aggies took the Bulldog pitching staff out behind the woodshed again Friday in an 11-9 win. Centerfielder Caden Sorrell improved his chances of winning the Golden Spikes with a two-run homer, a two-RBI triple and a two-run double as he went 3 for 5 with 6 RBI.

A&M chased Mississippi State starter Duke Stone after he gave up nine hits and seven runs in 2 2/3 innings. Stone departed after giving up a three-run shot to Blake Binderup to give the Aggies a 7-5 lead. Reliever Jack Bauer had time run out on him quickly, as Grahovac immediately took him deep for his second homer of the series and 19th of the year.

Bauer worked two innings, but saw the clock hit zero after Sorrell’s two-run double in the fifth. The Aggies scored their final run in the sixth when shortstop Boston Kellner — already playing with a facemask after suffering a broken orbital bone last weekend — was hit by another pitch with the bases loaded.

The A&M pitching staff, already short-handed and licking its wounds after Thursday night’s debacle, did just enough to preserve a victory. Starter Weston Moss was chased after giving up four runs in two innings, and former game one starter Shane Sdao was smacked for six hits and five runs in four innings, but did enough to get the win. Reliever Clayton Freshcorn made the lead hold up, with three innings of two-hit ball while striking out five to get the save.

With nearly every pitcher already having taking the mound in the series, the Aggies took an all hands on deck approach to Sunday’s game. Darden got the start again, and held Mississippi State to a run on four hits over 3 1/3 innings. Lyons was lit up for a second time, limping through 1 2/3 innings while giving up three runs.

The Aggies were trailing 4-3 in the seventh before second baseman Ben Royo hit an RBI sacrifice fly and Kellner knocked in one with a single to give A&M a 5-4 lead. It didn’t last long as Freshcorn, pitching a day after throwing 52 pitches over three innings, gave up a two-run homer to right fielder Jacob Parker in the top of the eighth to give Mississippi State a 6-5 advantage.

The Aggies rallied back in the bottom of the eighth, with Sorrell was walked and Hacopian singled. With two on and nobody out, utilityman and pinch hitter Travis Chestnut laid down a good sacrifice bunt, moving both runners into scoring position. Catcher Bear Harrison made good on the opportunity, driving in both after a seven-pitch at-bat.

Freshcorn gave up a leadoff walk to start the top of the ninth, but retired the next three batters in order to clinch the victory and the series for A&M.

The Aggies will be the third seed in the SEC Baseball Tournament in Hoover, Ala., this week. That means A&M will get a double bye and will not play until Friday, giving the battered Aggies extra time to regroup.