Texas throwing error helps Texas A&M pad its lead in third inning

Pandemonium has ensued at the College World Series matchup between Texas and Texas A&M on Sunday. After Texas third baseman Skyler Messinger fielded a routine ground ball for what should have been the final out of the inning, he threw a wild ball to Ivan Melendez at first base for an error.

The ball went zooming past Melendez and into the dugout after the first baseman failed to stop it with his foot. The blunder allowed Aggies catcher Troy Claunch to advance to third and Ryan Targac to walk across home for an unearned run.

5-2 Texas A&M pic.twitter.com/mTmSCoEFNc

— 11Point7: The College Baseball Podcast 🎙 (@11point7) June 19, 2022

Longhorns coach David Pierce later revealed in an interview on the broadcast that the umpires ruled that Melendez kicked the ball into the dugout. That is ultimately what allowed Targac to advance to home.

“I couldn’t tell what (the umpire) called, and then he basically said Ivan kicked the ball into the dugout as soon as he went to retrieve it,” Pierce said. “Really unfortunate because Skyler’s been so good and Ivan’s been so good. It’s just an unfortunate mistake. We’ve gotta overcome it.”

The error gave A&M a 5-2 advantage after it scored four runs in the second inning to take a big lead. Texas managed one run in the first and second innings before the Aggies kept them scoreless in the third.

Texas has been unable to get anything going following the error, as it continues to struggle on defense. The Longhorns are on their fourth pitcher of the afternoon and trailed 8-2 at the end of the fifth. Unless things change quickly, it looks likely that this could be the last game of the season for Texas.

The winner from Sunday’s game will stay alive in the College World Series and move on to face either Oklahoma or Notre Dame at 2 p.m. ET on Tuesday.