Tennessee baseball shuts down Texas A&M to stay in SEC Tournament

HOOVER, Ala. − Chris Stamos opened, AJ Causey followed, Kirby Connell finished and Tennessee baseball's patented pitching pattern worked wonderfully.

The Vols deployed their usual plan and shut down a potent Texas A&M offense to stay in the SEC Tournament on Thursday.

No. 1 Tennessee stifled the No. 4 Aggies in a 7-4 win at Hoover Met thanks to fantastic pitching and three hits from Kavares Tears, whose three-run homer in the seventh broke the game open. Stamos and Causey combined for 10 strikeouts in 7⅓ innings, allowing three runs on six hits with two walks for Tennessee (47-11) against Texas A&M (44-13).

The Vols face the loser of No. 5 Mississippi State and No. 8 Vanderbilt in an elimination game Friday (approximately 7 p.m. ET, SEC Network). Tennessee lost 13-4 in its opener against Vanderbilt on Wednesday.

Kavares Tears is on a six-game hitting streak

Tears is on a modest six-game hitting streak after his big Thursday. The redshirt sophomore is 9-for-24 in that span with three doubles and two homers. He was 3-for-5 against the Aggies with four RBIs.

He had a key fifth-inning RBI double after the Vols almost squandered a two-on, no-out situation.

Chris Stamos made his best start of the season

Stamos faced one of the nation's best offenses in Texas A&M and outdid it.

The Vols senior did not allow a hit through 2⅔ innings before a third-inning homer. That was the lone hit he allowed as he struck out three and walked one. Stamos pitched a season-best 3⅓ innings.

AJ Causey continues to deliver elite relief

ACE: AJ Russell is back and Tennessee baseball found out how important that is vs. Vanderbilt

Tennessee used the Stamos-to-Causey approach again as it has to open weekend series through most of SEC play. Causey followed Stamos' efforts with his own stellar pitching. He struck out seven in four innings, allowing two runs on five hits with a walk.

Causey has struck out at least six in seven straight outings.

Mike Wilson covers University of Tennessee athletics. Email him at michael.wilson@knoxnews.com and follow him on Twitter @ByMikeWilson. If you enjoy Mike’s coverage, consider a digital subscription that will allow you access to all of it.

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Tennessee baseball shuts down Texas A&M to stay in SEC Tournament