COLLEGE STATION, Texas – The No. 12 Texas A&M Aggies fell to the Texas State Bobcats, 5-3, Tuesday evening on Olsen Field on Blue Bell Park.
Texas A&M found itself in early trouble, giving up five runs, including a grand slam in the top half of the first. The Aggies had the opportunity to strike back in the home half of the first, when they had bases loaded with no outs, but they were unable to score. The Maroon & White trimmed the lead in the fourth, plating three, and were able to get the tying run in scoring position in the seventh, but to no avail.
Starter Dustin Saenz (2-1) was saddled with the loss, after giving up five runs in the first. The Aggie bullpen shutdown the Bobcats, scattering just four hits and two walks, while fanning 12 in the remaining 8.2 inning. Chris Weber got out of the jam in the first, throwing 1.2 innings, allowing one walk while striking out two, while Jake Nelson threw 2.0 innings, yielding one hit while fanning one. Kyle Richardson, Christian Roa, Bryce Miller, Chandler Jozwiakand Kasey Kalich each tossed a blank frame. The pitching staff combined to throw their 26th double-digit strikeout performance.
Offensively, seven different Aggies recorded a hit, and were led by Braden Shewmake who went 2-for-4. Aaron Walters had one hit, one run and one RBI, while Bryce Blaum and Chandler Morris tallied one hit and one RBI.
The Maroon & White fall to 25-9-1 on the season, while Texas State improves to (21-12).
UP NEXT
Texas A&M is set to host the No. 19 Auburn Tigers for conference play beginning Friday with first pitch at 6:32 p.m.
SCORING SUMMARY
T1 | Jaylen Hubbard roped the first pitch of the game to the left-center gap for a double, and advance to third on a sacrifice bunt by Dalton Shuffield. Jaxon Williams and Skyler Valentine loaded the bases by drawing back-to-back one-out walks. Saenz balked, allowing Texas State to plate the first run of game. After the balk, Will Hollis drew the third straight walk, to reload the bases, before John Wuthrich cleared the bases with a grand slam over the leftfield wall. TXST 5, A&M 0.
B4 | Joseph Menefee dropped a leadoff bloop single into left-center field and Jonathan Ducoff put runners on the corners with a single to center. Aaron Walters broke the Aggies’ scoring drought, plating Menefee on a single through the right side of the infield. Both runners advanced into scoring position after Texas State’s pitcher bounced a wild pitch in the dirt. With one out, Bryce Blaum knocked in Ducoff with a sacrifice fly, and Chandler Morris followed scoring Walters on a single up the middle. TXST 5, A&M 3.
TEXAS A&M QUOTES
Head Coach Rob Childress
On his pitchers…
“We had a heroic performance out of the rest of the guys, eight and two-thirds of shut out baseball on four hits, three walks and twelve strikeouts. Everyone else towed the rope but we didn’t get those guys in the game fast enough.”
On Christian Roa…
“We’re trying to get him healthy, that’s where we’re at. It was good to see him go out in his one inning. He was crisp and clean and overall good to have his veteran arm back. It’s important to have that veteran in the bull pen or to start for us.”
On team’s offensive performance…
“It was disappointing in the first inning we loaded the bases, with nobody out and had our four, five and sixth batters up and couldn’t cash in one run. Then there again in the seventh, we had runners at second and third with our clean up hitters up and we couldn’t manage to scratch a run. That’s the thing that will get you when you’ve held a team that scored five runs in the top of the first and we couldn’t answer back in those moments, it was disappointing.”
Junior Catcher Mikey Hoehner
On Dustin Saenz starting performance…
“You know, I thought he looked pretty good in the bullpen, and I thought he looked pretty good in warmups. I just think a couple fastballs got away from him, he just missed a couple spots, and it just didn’t work out for him. Usually, he’d get out of that jam by making some guy have a bad swing, but that didn’t happen tonight. We never really got the wheels turning, and that’s what happens when you face a team like that.”
On Christian Roa and Chandler Jozwiak coming in from the bullpen…
“I thought Joz was throwing the ball a little harder today, and it looked good. Love to see Christian back on the mound, because he’s a big leader for us in the club house. He looked really good tonight.”
Sophomore Right-Handed Pitcher Christian Roa
On his performance tonight…
“I’m feeling a lot better coming back. I just wasn’t feeling healthy for the last couple weeks. I was feeling good and attacking the zone. Being back out there feels great.”