Credit to Ben Rikard | Assistant Director, Athletics Communications 12thman.com
BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION, Texas – The Texas A&M Aggies fell into an early hole and could not work their way back on Tuesday night, dropping a 5-2 midweek decision to No. 21 Texas on Olsen Field at Blue Bell Park.
The Longhorns (19-7) won their 15th game in a row and jumped on the board in the first thanks to a two-out, two-run double by Porter Brown. They were able to add another in the third and two more key insurance runs in the eighth.
Meanwhile, the Aggies (15-10) were able to answer with runs in the first and sixth and got the tying run to the plate in both the eighth and ninth before Texas stopper Zane Morehouse was able to work out of each jam.
Morehouse finished with three punchouts in his 2.0 innings to earn his third save, while Lebarron Johnson Jr. moved to 3-1 on the year with the win. Aggie freshman Shane Sdao got his first career start and took the loss, allowing three runs on eight hits in 2.0 innings with four strikeouts and no walks.
Texas finished with 15 hits on the day, but only Brown’s double went for extra bases. Of their 14 singles, nine did not leave the infield.
Jack Moss extended his hit streak to 11 games with a 2-for-4 night that included an RBI single in the sixth that cut the lead to 3-2. The hit scored Hunter Haas who had led off the inning with a triple, extending his own hit streak to a team-best 12 games.
Ty Sexton turned in another solid bullpen performance with 3.0 shutout innings, entering with the bases loaded and no outs and working out of the jam before exiting after the fifth. Matt Dillard capped a night that included use of eight Aggie arms by striking out the side in the top of the ninth.
The game included an attendance of 7,347 is the fourth largest crowd at Blue Bell Park since 2012.
TOP AGGIE PERFORMERS
Jace LaViolette – 1-for-4, RBI
Jack Moss – 2-for-4, RBI
Hunter Haas – 1-for-2, 2 R, 3B, BB
Ty Sexton – 3.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 3 K
Matt Dillard – 1.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K
GAME SUMMARY
T1 | TEX 2, TAMU 0
With one out, Powell singled to second base. Campbell singled to third base. Brown doubled to the left-center gap to score two.
B1 | UT 2, TAMU 1
Haas led off the inning with a walk and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Austin Bost’s groundout moved Haas to third. LaViolette singled to score Haas.
T3 | TEX 3, TAMU 1
Kennedy singled to the second baseman. Powell singled through the right side, allowing Kennedy to move to third. Campbell singled to left field to score Kennedy.
B6 | TEX 3, TAMU 2
Haas tripled to left-center field and scored on a single to left-center field by Moss.
T7 | TEX 5, TAMU 2
With one out, Kennedy reached on an infield single and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Powell singled to second the second baseman to put runners on the corners. Campbell walked to load the bases. Garret Guillemette was hit by a pitch, scoring Kennedy. Brown reached on a fielder’s choice to score Powell.
UP NEXT
The Aggies open a three-game series against Ole Miss beginning Friday at 6 p.m. on Olsen Field at Blue Bell Park.
TEXAS A&M QUOTES
Head Coach Jim Schlossnagle
On the Aggie pitching staff…
“I felt that our pitching was really good tonight minus the free bases we gave up. Sdao gave up hits but he’s throwing strikes and those balls were hit hard. I feel like we filled up the strike zone and did a nice job with the exception of the eighth inning. We have to be better offensively, no doubt about that, but overall all the pitchers who threw tonight did well.”
Redshirt Freshman RHP Ty Sexton
On the game overall…
“I mean it’s still a game and you never know how things are going to turn out no matter who you are playing against. But it is going to click for us. We just have to keep showing up.”
Senior OF Brett Minnich
How do you feel about being back out on the field…
“I am feeling good and I felt good hitting on Monday as well. The original plan was six weeks and that just happened to fall on this week. I was ready to go with it being against the Longhorns and was just eager to be back out there with the boys.”