Texas A&M centerfielder Jace LaViolette (17) is greeted at the plate after hitting a grand slam against Mississippi State in the first round of the SEC Baseball Tournament at the Hoover Met. Gary Cosby Jr. / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Texas A&M shuts out Mississippi State in SEC Tournament first round

Originally posted on Mississippi State Bulldogs on SI
By Taylor Hodges | Last updated May 21, 2025 2:38 PM ET

Mississippi State’s time in Hoover, Ala. won’t last as long as it had hoped it would.

The Bulldogs were held scoreless in Wednesday’s first round SEC Tournament against Texas A&M and will head back to Starkville with a 9-0 loss.

Texas A&M, in desperate need of wins to make the NCAA Tournament, jumped out to an early 8-0 lead with six runs scored in the second and two more in third inning. The Aggies would cruise the rest of the way, mostly on the back of their starting pitcher, Ryan Pager.

.@ryanprager10 does it again #GigEm pic.twitter.com/bmXXPD73fs
— Texas A&M Baseball (@AggieBaseball) May 21, 2025

Pager (5-0) wasn’t originally scheduled to start against Mississippi State. The Aggies announced Weston Moss would start, but that was when the game was to be played Tuesday night. Severe thunderstorms in the forecast led to that game being postponed to Wednesday morning. Texas A&M then decided to start its ace pitcher, Prager, against Mississippi State.

RATTLIN' BOG AT THE HOOVER MET#GigEm | @JaceLaViolette2 pic.twitter.com/Iq2gaWQgVE
— Texas A&M Baseball (@AggieBaseball) May 21, 2025

The Bulldogs elected to stick with its originally announced starting pitcher, Ryan McPherson and not start their own ace, Pico Kohn. McPherson started off great, recording three strikeouts in the first inning. But things quickly fell apart in the second inning.

Struck out the side.

: https://t.co/kZ7WdWwCWb #HailState pic.twitter.com/XiuqfJekuy
— Mississippi State Baseball (@HailStateBB) May 21, 2025

Would the same thing have happened if Kohn had started? Or would things have been different? Nobody knows.

What we do know is that Texas A&M needed the win. The Aggies are outside of most NCAA Tournament projections and two or more wins might be enough to get the preseason No. 1 team into the field of 64.

The Bulldogs shouldn’t worry too much about making the NCAA Tournament, even with this loss (they have the same conference record as Florida). The SEC is expected to send 13 teams to the tournament and if Texas A&M can win another game or two, it’ll be 14.

Mississippi State will be a No. 3 seed in a NCAA Regional and we’ll learn which one when the NCAA Baseball Tournament selection show is held at 11 a.m. Monday on ESPN2.