Baseball team gets another win over Dolphins

The Aggie offense exploded with a 14-hit attack on Saturday at Olsen Field to lift the No. 8 Texas A&M baseball team to a 10-2 victory over Le Moyne.

“I was proud of the way we came out today,” head coach Rob Childress said. “Their pitcher did a nice job. We had a chance to get things going there in the first inning. (Tyler) Naquin hit a ball right on the screws and Krey (Bratsen) did a great job trying to get back but we didn’t get the call and just like that we don’t score until the fourth inning. We had a big inning in the fifth and were able to score four of the six runs with two outs. We added a few more in the eighth inning and were able to get some young guys on the field that hadn’t played yet. Now we need to come out tomorrow and take care of business.”

Senior second baseman Andrew Collazo, seeing his first action of the new campaign, along with outfielders Brandon Wood and Krey Bratsen all had three hits for the Aggies who secured the series win with a second consecutive victory over the Dolphins.

The game was scoreless heading into the bottom half of the fourth inning when Wood broke the ice on the scoreboard. After a single by junior first baseman Jacob House and a wild pitch that moved him into scoring position, Wood was able to plate the game’s initial run by singling to center field.

Sophomore starting pitcher Michael Wacha (1-0) picked up his first win of the season with an impressive outing on the mound. Following the lead of fellow Texarkana native John Stilson, who earned the win for the Aggies on Friday night, Wacha tossed six shutout innings allowing just five hits while striking out seven and walking none.

Texas A&M was able to break the game open in the bottom of the fifth with timely hitting and by capitalizing on a series of Dolphin mistakes.

Three straight singles from Kenny Jackson, Collazo and Bratsen started the inning and set the Aggies up with a bases-loaded, no-out situation. Le Moyne starter Cory Nelson (0-1) proceeded to hit sophomore right fielder Tyler Naquin and bring home the first Aggie run of the frame.

Le Moyne coach Scott Cassidy then went to his bullpen but reliever Erik Lambe fared little better. Facing his first batter of the day, Lambe plunked junior designated hitter Matt Juengel to force in another Aggie run. A bases-loaded, no-out double play and balk scored two more Aggie runs in the frame, bringing the score to 5-0. A&M was not done in the inning as Wood added a RBI triple and senior catcher Gregg Alcazar got into the act with a run-scoring single.

The home half of the eighth saw the Aggie put three more tallies on the board as Naquin and Juengel collected back-to-back RBI triples and Juengel himself came home on a wild pitch.

Le Moyne attempted a rally in the top of the ninth but was only able to scratch across two runs.

Aggie relievers Joaquin Hinojosa and Dylan Mendoza each tossed a scoreless inning in their season debuts on Saturday, while senior Steve Martin pitched the ninth.

Texas A&M will go for the sweep Sunday in the series finale, which is slated to begin at 12:05 p.m. from Olsen Field. Sophomore lefty Ross Hales will be on the mound for the Aggies as he attempts to come back from an injury-plagued 2010 season. The Dolphins will counter with sophomore right-hander Derek Zielinski.

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