The 2025 Texas A&M baseball campaign officially went down in infamy Monday. The Aggies did not receive an NCAA Tournament berth, making them the first preseason No. 1 college baseball team to miss the postseason since 1991. That exclusion should leave them regarded as one of the most disappointing A&M athletics teams ever.
And in recent memory, at least, there might not be a close second.
Entering the first season under their head coach, Michael Earley, the Aggies had plenty of reasons to carry national title expectations. They were fresh off their first-ever trip to the College World Series Finals. They returned 20 players from that team, including five position starters and their top two weekend starting pitchers. They added an impressive group of 23 players, which Baseball America ranked as the second-best newcomer haul in the country.
It all helped them be the unanimous top-ranked team for the first time in program history while boasting four preseason All-American players. A&M, however, fell well short of its aspirations, finishing with a lackluster 30-26 overall record and 11-19 mark in SEC play.
Throughout this season, the Aggies experienced their fair share of low moments. They started 5-0 before dropping five of their next six games, including four straight. They began a dreadful 1-9 in SEC action, ending with them being no-hit in a 10-0, run-rule loss at Tennessee. They bounced back by winning 10 of their next 11 games but finished 3-9 in SEC play, which saw them suffer series sweeps to rival Texas and last-place Missouri.
Making matters worse for them, Jim Schlossnagle, their former head coach who departed for the same role with the Longhorns last offseason, put together a stellar first year in Austin. Texas claimed the regular-season SEC championship and is the No. 2 national seed in the NCAA Tournament.
The statistical differences compared to last season are glaring, too.
The Aggies mostly regressed offensively, plunging in runs per game (8.5 to 7.1), batting average (.298 to .260), on-base percentage (.415 to .377), slugging percentage (.543 to .473), OPS (.958 to .850), home runs per game (2.0 to 1.7), runs batted in per game (7.9 to 6.6), walks per game (6.2 to 5.1) and stolen bases per game (1.24 to 0.73) while being worse in ERA (3.86 to 4.30) and fielding percentage (.978 to .974).
Several main contributors departing A&M after last season – including All-American outfielder Braden Montgomery, first-team All-SEC catcher Jackson Appel, shortstop Ali Camarillo Jr., first baseman Ted Burton, NCBWA Stopper of the Year Evan Aschenbeck and long reliever Chris Cortez – partly explains why it took such a big step back.
Four key players for the Aggies this season – top starting pitcher Ryan Prager, center fielder Jace LaViolette, designated hitter Hayden Schott and first baseman Gavin Kash – contributed to the decline as well by taking a statistical nosedive compared to what they produced in 2024.
Prager did not land on any of the three All-SEC teams this season after picking up various All-American honors in 2024. His record (9-1 to 4-4), ERA (2.95 to 4.21), strikeout-to-walk ratio (6.2 to 3.5) and opposing batting average (.226 to .264) all got worse.
While LaViolette finished as the lone A&M player with All-SEC accolades this season, he still fell short of his lofty standard by receiving second-team recognition. In 12 fewer games compared to last season, LaViolette went backward in batting average (.305 to .258), on-base percentage (.449 to .427), slugging percentage (.726 to .576), home runs (29 to 18) and RBIs (78 to 61).
Schott appeared in all 68 games last season and boasted a team-best .335 batting average and 88 hits, along with a .418 on-base percentage, .498 slugging percentage, eight homers, 63 RBIs and 34 walks. He served a more limited role this season and regressed big time, appearing in only 50 games with 33 starts while slashing .215/.285/.319 and totaling four homers, 34 RBIs and 14 walks.
Maybe no player statistically declined more than Kash. The Texas Tech transfer garnered first-team All-Big 12 accolades in 2023 and slashed .300/.365/.561 in 56 games last season while tallying 15 homers, 17 doubles and 51 RBIs. This time, Kash slashed only .230/.333/.389 with three homers, nine doubles and 24 RBIs through 41 games.
Injuries also plagued the Aggies.
Three starters who were coming off all-conference seasons – third baseman Gavin Grahovac (left shoulder), outfielder Caden Sorrell (hamstring; hand) and Kash (hamstring; one-game suspension) – missed 95 games combined. Pitcher Shane Sdao underwent a season-ending surgery on his throwing elbow last summer. Reliever Josh Stewart threw only six pitches in one appearance before being lost for the season with a knee injury.
Various other players spent all or part of the season limited with at least one injury or illness. Schott and reliever Caden McCoy respectively played all and part of the season with a torn meniscus in their knee. Top reliever Weston Moss dealt with mononucleosis for part of the season. LaViolette competed in the final game of the season despite having a broken bone in his left hand.
The schedule proved to be grueling, too. Of the 56 games A&M played, 23 of them were against teams that finished the regular season in the D1Baseball rankings. Only three of those games – a weekend series against LSU – were played at home in Blue Bell Park.
So arguably everything that could have gone against them, went against them.
Regardless, the Aggies still failed to make the NCAA Tournament for only the second time since 2007. Still failed to win any of their three games vs. woeful Missouri. Still failed to be better than 50th in RPI. Not much can excuse those shortcomings when their expectations were as high as they were.
Now, A&M athletics director Trev Alberts has a decision to make. He could either fire Earley after this season or bring him back to avoid paying a costly contract buyout in a non-revenue sport. Earley signed a four-year, $3.9 million contract, and if he is fired without cause now, A&M would owe him $3 million in addition to what still needs to be paid from the first year of his deal and assistant coach buyouts. However, there is offset language in those contracts.
It remains to be seen whether Alberts will retain Earley. What is certain, though, is this season for the Aggies could not have gone much worse.
