Texas A&M's SEC Tournament scenarios before critical rubber match

No. 10 Texas A&M (38-13, 17-11 SEC) responded after Friday night's 18-11 loss to No. 13 Mississippi State, securing an 11-9 victory behind Caden Sorrell's incredible day at the plate, nearly completing the cycle after hitting a double, triple, and home run, including six RBIs. However, A&M's pitching continues to look like the team's primary weakness, as Weston Moss and Shane Sdao allowed all nine of the Bulldogs' runs on the night.

Thanks to the Aggies' reliable closer Clayton Freshcorn, who, in three innings of work, struck out five and allowed zero runs, shut down Mississippi State's offense for three innings and threw 52 pitches, which could make him available if needed during Saturday's rubber match. Either way, we could be in for another high-scoring game that could go either way.

With 17 wins in conference play, the Aggies' Friday loss placed them behind the 8-ball, while the Texas Longhorns, who A&M swept in two games last month, defeated Missouri twice to earn 18 SEC victories, and are looking to solidify a second-place finish to earn a double-bye in the SEC Tournament next week.

Right now, the most likely scenario to earn a third-place finish in the standings and a No. 3 seed in the SEC Tournament is defeating Mississippi in the rubber match, combined with the Longhorns sweeping Missouri. For the Aggies to earn the No. 2 seed, a win, plus Texas losing, would need to come to fruition, as unlikely as that looks.

Here are the rest of the scenarios heading into Saturday's all-important rubber match vs. Mississippi State:

• No. 3 seed: A&M loss + Alabama ANDFlorida loss
• No. 4 seed: A&M loss + Alabama ORFlorida win
• No. 5 seed: A&M loss + Alabama ANDFlorida wi

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