By: Thomas Dick, Texas A&M Athletics Communications
BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION, Texas – The Texas A&M Aggies were unable to hold off a late Georgia rally in a 6-4 loss to the Bulldogs in the series finale Sunday afternoon on Olsen Field at Blue Bell Park.
The Aggies took a 4-1 lead after six innings as looked to complete the three-game sweep of Georgia. The Bulldogs claimed the advantage with a four-run seventh inning and tacked on an insurance run in the eighth.
Texas A&M batted .500 (4-of-8) with runners in scoring position and .357 (5-of-14) with runners on, but they were able to get the leadoff man on base in just one time on the day.
Ty Coleman led the Aggies at the plate, going 2-for-4 with one double and one run. Kalae Harrison was 1-for-2 with one walk, one run and one RBI.
Aggie starting pitcher Chris Weber was solid in the start, yielding one run on five hits while striking out four in 4.1 innings. Mason Ornelas was saddled with the loss, allowing three runs on four hits and one walk while striking out two in 1.2 innings.
Texas A&M’s pitching staff continued their overpowering campaign. They fanned 16 batters for their 18th double-digit strikeout effort of the season.
Texas A&M dropped to 17-9 overall and 2-4 in the SEC. Georgia improved to 16-7 overall and 2-4 in league action.
TOP AGGIE PERFORMERS
Ty Coleman – 2-for-4, 1 double, 1 run.
Kalae Harrison – 1-for-2, 1 walk, 1 run, 1 RBI
Chris Weber – 4.1 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 4 K
SCORING SUMMARY
B3 | With one out, Mikey Hoehner threaded a double down the third baseline and scored when Kalae Harrison bounced a single up the middle. A&M 1, UGA 0.
T4 | With one out, Riley King punched a single through the left side, moved to second on a wild pitch and advanced to third on a groundout by Cole Tate. Chaney Rogers plated King with a gapper to right-center for a single. A&M 1, UGA 1.
B5 | With two outs, Harrison worked a six-pitch walk and Blaum laced a single through the left side. Will Frizzell went opposite field to beat the shift with a grounder to the spot the shortstop vacated for an RBI single. Austin Bost sent Blaum home with a single to short. A&M 3, UGA 1.
B6 | Ty Coleman hit a wall-banger in left-center for a leadoff double and moved to third on a sacrifice bunt by Jordan Thompson. Ray Alejo punched a single over the drawn in infield to score Coleman. A&M 4, UGA 1.
T7 | Fernando Gonzalez worked a seven-pitch walk to start the inning and Ben Anderson followed with a single to leftfield. Josh McAllister knocked in Gonzalez with a single to leftfield, driving Mason Ornelas from the game. Kobe Andrade retired the only batter he faced before Alex Magers entered the game. Magers struck out Kameron Guidry, but then Connor Tate and Riley King each knocked in runs with bloop hits. A walk to Cole Tate reloaded the bases and Georgia scored the go-ahead run when reliever Will Johnston uncorked wild pitch. UGA 5, A&M 4.
T8 | With two outs, McAllister hit a solo home run to leftfield. UGA 6, A&M 4.
UP NEXT
The Aggies return to action Tuesday with a 6:02 p.m. contest against the Texas Longhorns.
TEXAS A&M QUOTES
Head Coach Rob Childress
On today’s loss…
“Anytime you win a conference series in the SEC you got to feel good about it. The disappointing part is we had a chance for a sweep and a 4-1 lead going into the seventh, and we were not able to come away with a win. Really the stingier pitching staff on a day like today is going to be the one that wins. You look back at that inning, a lead-off walk, a two-out walk and a wild pitch and it ends up being the difference in the game for us today. They were better out of the bullpen then we were, but we certainly did a lot of things right to be in a 4-1 position. Chris Weber got us off to a good start, and we made some great defensive plays behind Mason Ornelas to keep the lead at 4-1. I feel encouraged about the weekend certainly.”
Junior LHP Chris Weber
On his confidence in the bullpen…
“Obviously, I want to go as deep in the game as I can but once you are in the third time around the lineup, you need to give a different look. Mason Ornelas did a great job getting off the field that inning and had another his next time out there. We had a lot of confidence in our bullpen, we just ran into one tough inning that had some good hits. For the most part, when I come out of the game I have full confidence in our bullpen.”
Junior INF Ty Coleman
On how the defense this weekend…
“I think that we played some solid defense all weekend. We made a couple careless mistakes but collectively we saved a lot of hits and extra base runners. So, I do think we played some great defense.”
Graduate C Mikey Hoehner
On the defensive performance…
“I felt like we fielded really good the entire year so far. Our middle infielders have made a ton of plays. That’s really good for our pitcher that throw strikes and have guys that can make plays behind them. It brings confidence along with it.”