COLUMBIA, Missouri – The No. 22 Texas A&M Aggies weathered 75-minute rain delay and a feisty Missouri Tigers squad to complete the three-game series sweep with a 7-2 victory Sunday at Taylor Stadium.
The Aggies outscored Missouri 25-4 for the weekend and Texas A&M pitchers held the Tigers to four runs, two earned, on 13 hits over 27.0 innings for the series.
Stephen Kolek (3-2) took a no-hitter into the seventh inning. In the first six frames he faced the minimum with one batter reaching on a catcher’s interference who was later thrown out trying to steal second. In the seventh, Kirby McGuire slapped a single through the left side of the infield to end the no-no bid. It also ended a string of 11 consecutive hitless innings for the Tigers against A&M pitching.
Texas A&M (32-13, 13-8 SEC) manufactured a run in the top of the fifth inning. George Janca was hit by a pitch and Austin Homan was issued a base on balls. Homan was retired at second on a fielder’s choice grounder to third by Walker Pennington. With runners on the corners, Pennington stole second base to put two runners in scoring position. Nick Choruby plated Janca with a grounder to first, staking the Maroon and White to a 1-0 lead.
After the rain delay, the field was deemed playable despite standing puddles in the outfield and a lagoon along the warning track.
In the bottom of the eighth, Missouri (27-18, 8-13 SEC) brewed up trouble with two outs and Texas A&M closer Mitchell Kilkenny on the mound. The Tigers loaded the bases with an error by Homan at short on a grounder by Chris Cornelius, a single to leftfield by Ian Nelson and a walk by Connor Brumfield. Kilkenny pitched to a full count before blowing strike three by McGuire to end the frame.
With momentum back in the Aggie dugout, the Maroon and White poured it on with a six-run ninth. Birthday boy Blake Kopetsky started the frame with a single through the right side and Janca drew a five-pitch walk. An error on a pickoff attempt at second put both runners in scoring position. After a strikeout, Pennington hit a triple to the lagoon in rightfield to give the Aggies a 3-0 lead. Choruby plated Pennington with a single through the left side and came around to score himself on Logan Foster‘s double down the leftfield line to inflate the cushion to five runs. Braden Shewmake ended the cavalcade of runs with a two-run dinger, his sixth home run of the season give Texas A&M a 7-0 advantage.
The Tigers broke the scoring seal with two outs in the ninth when Robbie Glendinning hit a two-run home run.
Missouri starter Bryce Montes De Oca (3-4) registered the best outing of his career. He allowed one run on two hits, three walks and two hit batsmen while striking out nine in 6.2 innings.
Davis batted 2-for-4 and Kopetsky went 2-for-5 to account for the Aggies’ two multi-hit games. Choruby, Shewmake and Pennington all logged two RBI.
The Aggies return to action Tuesday when they host the Houston Baptist Huskies in a 6:32 pm contest on Olsen Field at Blue Bell Park.
Story courtesy of Texas A&M Athletics