COLLEGE STATION, Texas – In a game that drifted well past midnight, the Texas A&M Aggies weathered a 3-hour, 12-minute rain delay and overcame a 3-0 first-inning deficit to record an 11-4 win over the UTSA Roadrunners on Olsen Field at Blue Bell Park on Tuesday evening.
The Roadrunners took advantage of a pair of Aggie errors to post three runs in the top of the first inning. With one out, Horacio Correa III reached on a fielding error by A&M shortstop Mikey Reynolds. RJ Perucki singled through the left side of the infield to put a pair of runners on. Mike Warren reached on an infield single that would have loaded the bases, but an unwarranted throw to first base went errant allowing Correa to score and moving two runners into scoring position. With two outs, Tony Ramirez roped a single to right field to drive in a pair before being thrown out at second base as UTSA left the inning with a 3-0 advantage.
The game was stopped in the middle of the fourth inning at 7:20 pm, 44 minutes into the contest.
Immediately after sitting through the lengthy rain delay, the Aggies sent 12 batters to the plate to drop the anvil on the Roadrunners in a six-run fourth inning. UTSA starter Nolan Trabanino was cruising before the stoppage, but had to be relieved due to the lengthy rain delay. With Logan Onda in from the bullpen, the Aggies alternated singles and outs to load the bases, including base hits by Blake Allemand up the middle, Daniel Mengden back to the pitcher and Brandon Wood to the shortstop. With two outs and bases loaded, Jonathan Moroney deposited a single down the rightfield line to drive in two and cut the lead to 3-2. The Aggies tied the game when Logan Taylor reached on a throwing error by the UTSA third baseman to allow Wood to score.
After Reynolds was hit by a pitch to load the bases, Krey Bratsen hit an infield single to the shortstop to knock in Moroney for the Aggies’ first lead. Wesley Cox spelled Onda on the mound for UTSA and the Maroon and White took advantage of the Roadrunners’ second error of the inning when the first baseman could not scoop up a throw on an Allemand grounder, allowing Taylor to touch home. The Aggies capped off the cavalcade of runs when Lankford was hit by a pitch with bases loaded to push Reynolds across for the 6-3 lead.
Texas A&M (19-11) added an insurance run in the bottom of the fifth. Troy Stein was issued a six-pitch walk to start the inning and moved to third on a single by Wood. With one out, Taylor hit a sacrifice fly to rightfield, plating Stein for the 7-3 advantage.
UTSA (16-13) trimmed the lead to 7-4 in the top of the seventh when Daniel Rockett hit a 1-1 offering over the leftfield fence for a leadoff home run.
The Aggies put the game out of reach with two runs each in both the seventh and eighth frames. The seventh was keyed by an RBI double by Taylor and RBI single by Reynolds. In the eight, runs were plated with a fielder’s choice groundout by Stein and an RBI single by Charlie Curl for the 11-4 margin.
Wood and Allemand each had three hits for the Aggies. Wood went 3-for-3 with two walks, two runs and one stolen base. Allemand went 3-for-5 with two runs. Moroney and Taylor each had two RBI.
Perucki, Ramirez and Good had three hits apiece for the Roadrunners.
Neither starter figured in the decision. Pineda allowed three unearned runs on seven hits while striking out two over 4.0 innings for Texas A&M. Trabanino worked 3.0 scoreless innings, scattering two hits among the 11 batters he faced before the lengthy rain delay.
Kyle Martin (3-4) earned the win in his first relief appearance of the year. Martin allowed three hits while striking out two over 2.0 shutout innings.
Logan Onda (0-1) was saddled with the loss. He yielded six runs, two earned, on five hits and one strikeout over 0.2 innings of work.
The Aggies continue their eight-game homestand with a three-game SEC series against the Auburn Tigers beginning on Friday. First pitch is slated for 6:35 pm.