Trailing by three runs when the Aggies came to bat in the bottom of the seventh inning, the Texas A&M baseball team rallied to plate six unanswered runs and defeat FIU by the score of 8-5 Sunday at Olsen Field in front of 3,278 fans.
The victory is the first this season for the Aggies when trailing after seven innings and improves their overall record to 12-4.
Texas A&M jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the contest during the bottom of the first as Matt Juengel singled up the middle to drive in Tyler Naquin, who had doubled with two outs in the previous at bat. Naquin, who went 3-for-4 with a pair of runs on Sunday, is sizzling at the plate and has maintained a .591 average (13-for-22) with five extra base hits, eight RBI and seven runs scored in his last five games.
The Golden Panthers (12-5) plated a run of their own in the top of the second inning on an RBI single by David Vazquez to even the game at 1-1.
The Aggies retook the lead in the home half of the third frame on a RBI single by freshman centerfielder Kray Bratsen.
FIU again tied the game, this time at 2-2, in the top of the fourth as it plated a run against A&M starter Dylan Mendoza, who went four innings allowing five hits and two runs.
A pair of Aggie errors in the fifth allowed the Panthers to score an unearned run before a two-run double by catcher Jose Behar in the sixth made it 5-2 FIU.
After reliever Kyle Martin (1-0), who tossed a pair of scoreless innings out of the Aggie bullpen to pick up the win, held the Panthers scoreless in the top of the seventh, head coach Rob Childress turned to his bench to kick start the A&M offense.
Following a two-out single by shortstop Kenny Jackson, pinch hitter Troy Stein collected an opposite field single to right, setting the table for another pinch hitter, Brandon Wood.
Wood came through with a triple to right center that scored both runners and pulled the Aggies to within a single run at 5-4.
Naquin continued the Aggie comeback attempt with a double to lead off the eighth inning and was followed by a walk to Juengel, giving A&M a pair of baserunners. A sacrifice bunt by Jacob House put runners on second and third and forced a move to the FIU bullpen that brought Aaron Arboleya into the game.
Arboleya proceeded to throw back-to-back wild pitches allowing both Aggie baserunners to come home and make the score 6-5 in favor of Texas A&M.
A walk to pinch hitter Kevin Gonzalez put a runner on base for Jackson, who connected on his second home run of the season to give the Aggies some breathing room in the ninth.
A&M’s Joaquin Hinojosa would not need the extra cushion as he tossed a perfect ninth for his first save of the season.
Texas A&M baseball is back in action Tuesday when it hosts nationally-ranked Cal State Fullerton in a 6:35 p.m. contest at Olsen Field. The game will be the final tune-up for the Aggies as they kick off Big 12 play next weekend in Norman, Okla., against No. 2 Oklahoma.