For the second consecutive day nine innings were not enough to settle the issue between the No. 14 Texas A&M baseball team and visiting FIU at Olsen Field as Saturday the Golden Panthers downed the Aggies 2-1 in 10 innings.
The win by FIU evens the series at one game apiece and improves its overall record to 12-4 while dropping the Aggies to 11-4 on the year.
Runs were at a premium as Saturday’s contest turned into a pitcher’s duel between A&M’s Michael Wacha and FIU’s R.J. Fondon.
Wacha, who got a no-decision, logged a season-high nine strikeouts during his outing which saw him scatter three hits and allow just a single run in seven innings of work.
The lone tally the Panthers were able to scratch across against Wacha came in the top of the third when FIU centerfielder Joel Capote led off with a single, stole second and scored later in the frame on an RBI fielder’s choice.
Wacha recovered to get the last two outs of the inning en route to retiring eight in a row before issuing a walk to the first batter of the sixth.
Fondon matched Wacha’s solid outing with an equally impressive performance on the mound for FIU. The junior lefty tossed 7.1 innings in the contest and limited the Aggies to a single unearned run while notching seven punch outs.
Freshman left fielder Jace Statum, who went 2-for-5 at the top of the Aggie batting order, came home with the Aggies’ lone run of the day in the bottom of the eighth. After reaching on a bunt single to lead off the inning, the Orangefield, Texas, native moved from second to third on a wild pitch and scored on the play when the FIU catcher’s throw sailed into left field.
Statum has been a bright spot in the Aggie line-up and is hitting .583 (7-for-12) in the team’s last four games, while fellow outfielder Tyler Naquin went 3-for-5 Saturday to raise his team-leading batting average to .356. Naquin, who started the season on an eight-game hitting streak, has hit safely in 12 of 14 games played this season and is currently riding a .556 clip (10-for-18) at the plate.
Junior Ross Stripling (2-1) became the hard-luck loser for the Aggies in top of the 10th when his first wild pitch of the season allowed the eventual game-winning run to come home from third.
A final A&M rally in the bottom of the 10th fell just 90 feet short as FIU’s Bryam Garcia (1-0) stuck out Matt Juengel with runners on second and third to end the game.
Texas A&M baseball is back in action Sunday and will go for the series win during the rubber game of the series against the Panthers. First pitch is set for 1:05 p.m. with sophomore lefty Dylan Mendoza (2-0, 0.64 ERA) on the hill for the Aggies against FIU right-hander Danny DeSimone (2-1, 1-80 ERA).
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