Michael Earley explains pitching both Kaiden Wilson, Weston Moss in ninth inning vs. Missouri

In his first season as the head coach of the Texas A&M Aggies, Michael Earley is looking to make a late push and build up some momentum. Wins can be difficult to come by in the SEC, though, and the Aggies have now dropped two straight against the Missouri Tigers.

Friday night’s loss was particularly frustrating, squandering a three-run lead in the ninth. Both pitchers Earley turned to, Kaiden Wilson and Weston Moss, struggled. After the game, Earley emphasized that their control issues were the biggest problem in that ninth inning.

“There’s not enough strikes,” Michael Earley said. “Just not enough strikes, period. Hitting guys. Gotta throw strikes. They’ve done that, but they didn’t do that today, and they’ve got to be better.”

Weston Moss would pitch two innings in total for Texas A&M, taking over for starter Ryan Prager in the seventh inning. For his line, he finished with three hits, a walk, a hit by pitch, and just two strikeouts. He also surrendered three runs in the ninth inning. After he exited the game, Kaiden Wilson entered the game and the struggles continued. He’d allow another two hits and walk another two batters while throwing a wild pitch. That meant three more runs came in, only one of which was earned.

By the time Texas A&M got out of the inning, the damage was done. Missouri had all the momentum, and even with the Aggies getting a chance to respond in the bottom of the ninth, the game was all but over. It was a 9-6 Tigers finish.

Michael Earley hasn’t seen his team respond against Missouri since then at all. On Saturday, they followed that up with a 4-1 loss, with the Aggies’ offense only scoring one run in their last 15 innings, dating back to the fourth inning on Friday. Pitching improved overall, though, on Saturday for Texas A&M too. Three pitchers, Justin Lamkin, Brad Rudis, and Caden McCoy, combined to allow three earned runs, walk three batters, and struck out 12 in the loss.

Texas A&M is the only team that has lost an SEC game to Missouri this season. Now, they’re going to have to try to avoid the sweep on Sunday in what has become a frustrating season for Earley. The Aggies sit at 27-22 overall and 10-16 in SEC play. That’s 14th in the current conference standings with one series against a good Georgia Bulldogs team remaining.