COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Cole Bedford‘s three-run home run in the bottom of the second inning set the stage for the No. 18 Texas A&M Aggies’ 8-2 victory over the ACU Wildcats on Tuesday night at Olsen Field at Blue Bell Park.
Aggie starter Kaylor Chafin (2-0) pitched the first three innings, allowing just one hit and no walks while totaling three strikeouts on 38 pitches. Dustin Saenz followed suit, scattering two hits while striking out three in three scoreless innings. Landon Miner put up a blank frame in the ninth, retiring all three batters he faced.
Nine Aggie batters recorded hits on the evening, including Michael Helman and Zach DeLoach who each tallied two hits. Hunter Coleman scored two runs and Bedford tallied three RBI.
Texas A&M improved to 30-11 on the season while ACU dropped to 19-20 overall.
NEXT UP
The Aggies will face off against the Mississippi State Bulldogs at Dudy Noble Field in Starkville, Miss. on Friday, April 27 at 6:30 p.m.
SCORING SUMMARY
B2 | The Aggies drew first blood in the second. Coleman started the frame with a five-pitch walk and with one out drew a nine-pitch walk. Bedford hit the next pitch over the wall in dead centerfield for his fourth home run of the season. A&M 3, ACU 0.
B3 | Texas A&M made another leadoff walk pay off. This time it was Logan Foster with a five-pitch walk. With one out, he stole second base, moved to third on a groundout by Coleman and scored when Will Frizzell poked a single through the right side. A&M 4, ACU 0.
T7 | The Wildcats broke the scoring seal in the seventh. With one out, Riley Donahue singled to centerfield and Dalton Dun singled to left. Chandler Jozwiak relieved Christian Roa on the mound and committed a balk to push both runners into scoring position. Derek Scott grounded out to second base, pushing Donahue across. A&M 4, ACU 1.
B7 | The first three batter singled to fill the bags with Ags, including DeLoach at third, Helman at second and Foster at first. A fielder’s choice grounder to second by Braden Shewmake plated a run and put runners on the corners. Coleman knocked in Helman with a single to short, Shewmake scored on a wild pitch and Coleman came across on a single to centerfield by Cam Blake. A&M 8, ACU 1.
T8 | With two outs, Matt Munoz doubled to the gap in left-center and Caleb Kyle reached on a fielding error by Coleman at first base. Walks by Dalon Farkas and pinch-hitter Koby Claborn pushed a run across for the Wildcats before Asa Lacy got Dunn to groundout to short to end the inning. A&M 8, ACU 2.
TEXAS A&M QUOTES
Texas A&M Head Coach Rob Childress
On Kaylor Chafin‘s outing…
“It was important. Getting out there and getting in a flow in a rhythm and it allows him to start and prepare the right way, get out there and prepare and control the tempo of the whole game. I’m very happy with his performance.”
On the bullpen day…
“There are some guys who haven’t pitched in a while and we needed to get them out there. We have to look at them in game-type settings especially coming off the weekend where maybe we weren’t our very best.”
Junior 2B Michael Helman…
Getting the win…
“It was huge for us, huge for the pitching staff. They came out for us and just shoved all night. Even when they did give up runs our hitters came through and got some of those back.”
Senior LHP Kaylor Chafin
On what was working for him on the field…
“Just trying to be aggressive from the start, I feel like I have been passive lately and trying to just go right up the hitters and just throw as many strikes as I can. And force contact and make my defense work.”
On starting on the mound…
“It helped my confidence a lot, that they trust me to get this together and try to help the team with what I can. I just went out there and tried to attack and make the defense work, make it easier on me and get it done.”
Freshman LHP Dustin Saenz
On what was working for him tonight…
“Just getting back into those innings, I haven’t thrown in a few months. But getting back out there and just competing with fast balls and curves ball was really good, I think it was working well.”
Story courtesy of Texas A&M Athletics