Credit to Ben Rikard | Assistant Director, Athletics Communications – 12thman.com
BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION, Texas – The Texas A&M Aggies fell behind early and could not claw back in a 9-2 loss to Sam Houston on Tuesday night at Blue Bell Park.
Sam Houston (24-18) used a three-run third and a four-run fifth to build up an 8-1 lead and a slew of bullpen arms held the Aggie (25-16) bats at bay, punching out 13 A&M hitters and leaving a dozen on base.
Ty Sexton got the start and allowed two runs in 2.0 innings, taking his second loss of the year. Jaren Warwick and Brandyn Garcia were each bright spots out of the pen with Warwick throwing up 2.0 scoreless innings and Garcia one of his own through the eighth inning.
The Aggies finished with eight hits but did not get more than one from any individual and had just one extra-base hit: a run-scoring double by Jace LaViolette in the bottom of the fifth.
Rome Shubert picked up his second win as a Bearkat with 2.0 scoreless innings and Marshall Wales and Logan Hewitt struck out eight hitters between them in 5.0 frames before Chandler David tossed a perfect ninth.
TOP AGGIE PERFORMERS
Jace LaViolette – 1-for-3, 2B, RBI
Jaren Warwick – 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K
Brandyn Garcia – 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K
UP NEXT
Texas A&M hits the road once again for a key weekend series in the SEC at No. 7 Arkansas. The series is set to begin at 7 p.m. on Thursday night in a game scheduled to be aired on ESPNU. The game can also be heard locally on 1150 AM/93.7 FM The Zone with Andrew Monaco on the call.
GAME SUMMARY
T1 | SHSU 1, A&M 0
Sam Houston struck first in the opening inning with a run against Aggie starter Ty Sexton. He put SHSU’s Justin Wishkoski on base with a hit-by-pitch and the Kats’ first baseman promptly swiped second and moved to third on a wild pitch before scoring on an RBI single by Tyler Davis.
B1 | A&M 1, SHSU 1
The Aggies answered right back with a run of their own against Davis, who got the start on the mound for Sam Houston. Jack Moss started the rally with a one-out walk and moved to third on a two-out single by Brett Minnich. One batter later Ryan Targac dropped a single into center field to score Moss and knot things up at 1-1.
T3 | SHSU 4, A&M 1
Sam Houston retook the lead in the top of the third, this time with a rally started with a single by Joe Redfield. He then stole second and came in to score on a double into the left-field corner by Davis. Walker Janek followed that by socking a two-run homer over the left-field fence to cap a three-run inning.
T5 | SHSU 8, A&M 1
Sam Houston continued to pile on in the top of the fifth, taking advantage of a one-out Aggie miscue to get the inning going. After Janek had reached, Tatom put runners on the corners with a single and Clayton Chadwick picked up an RBI with a base hit one batter later that scored Janek. A wild pitch from Brad Rudis brought home Tatom to push the lead to 6-1 and Myles Jefferson delivered a big blow when he connected on a two-run homer to left field.
B5 | SHSU 8, A&M 2
The Aggies answered the Kats’ four spot with a run of their own in the fifth when Jace LaViolette doubled into the left-center field gap to score Trevor Werner who had led off with a walk.
T9 | SHSU 9, A&M 2
Jefferson added another RBI to his total in the ninth when the Kats added another run after a two-out walk to left fielder Carlos Contreras. Pinch runner Caleb Cotton then stole second to get into scoring position and Jefferson plated him with a sure single through the right side of the Aggie infield.