COLLEGE STATION, Texas – The No. 22 Texas A&M Aggies took the middle game, 5-2, against the No. 16 Arkansas Razorbacks on Friday Night on Olsen Field at Blue Bell Park to even the series.
Corbin Martin (6-3) weaved one of the best works of his career. He notched a career-high 12 strikeouts, allowing two runs on eight hits and one walk over 8.0 innings.
With the win Texas A&M improved to 36-19 on the season and 16-13 in SEC play. The victory guaranteed the Aggies a winning record in league action for the third consecutive season.
Arkansas (38-15, 17-11 SEC) opened the scoring with one run in the third inning when Eric Cole gapped a leadoff double to right-center and Jared Gates bounced a single up the middle. A&M avoided further damage escaping the inning with the bases full of Razorbacks. Arkansas ended up loading the bases with a single by Jax Biggers and a walk issued to Luke Bonfield, but Martin got Grant Koch to line out to centerfield to end the frame.
The Aggies answered back and then some in the home half of the third off previously unbeaten Razorback starter Dominic Taccolini (4-1). George Janca and Nick Choruby reached on singles before Cole Bedford tied the game on a sac fly. After the Hogs walked Braden Shewmake, Hunter Coleman made them pay blasting a three-run dinger to center. Coleman’s fourth homer of the season put the Aggies up 4-1.
Arkansas pushed one more across in the seventh on a double that just stayed fair down the left field line off the bat of Chad Spanberger. Martin limited them again getting his 10th strikeout of the game to end the threat.
Again, the Aggies answered the Hogs with a one-frame in the bottom half. Janca led the frame with a double and came around to score when Cole Bedford blasted a ball of the Arkansas first baseman with the infield drawn in.
Cason Sherrod came into the game for the ninth and closed the door on the Aggie victory. His perfect frame earned him his third save of the season.
On senior night, outgoing Aggie Blake Kopetsky went 2-for-4 while fellow seniors Walker Pennington and Choruby both came through with a base knock.
The two team will be wrap up the regular season at with an 11:02 a.m. start on Saturday. The rubber match will be broadcast on the SEC Network.
TEXAS A&M QUOTES
Head Coach Rob Childress
On Corbin Martin‘s outing…
“What an amazing performance. He knew we needed some length out of him tonight. That’s an offensive as a club that we’ve faced since Kentucky and for him to slow them down tonight and get us some great innings, just a remarkable performance.”
On Martin’s effectiveness…
“He threw all four pitches for a strike. He was able to pitch backwards, the soft stuff early, use the fastball late and just never seemed to be in trouble.”
On the importance of Hunter Coleman‘s home run…
“Gigantic. It allowed us to breathe a little bit and allowed Corbin (Martin) to breathe a little bit.”
Freshman 1B Hunter Coleman
On Corbin Martin‘s outing…
“I think he competed. His stuff stayed good all night. His last pitch was 95 MPH, tough to do. I think he did a good job just controlling himself and putting us in a good spot to win.”
On his first start at first base as an Aggie…
“About a month and a half ago Coach (Childress) told me to start taking some groundballs, getting ready just in case. Bad luck for Joel (Davis) but I was ready to go. Definitely felt comfortable.”
Junior RHP Corbin Martin
On his approach on the mound throughout the game…
“The second time through the lineup we started mixing speeds more and giving them a different look. I think they started to adjust back to that. So we starting pitching a little bit backwards, which was nice, and just being able to pitch with different pitches and trust the guys behind me. Just holding them to the least amount of runs that I could, that was my goal.”
On how he feels after throwing a career-high amount of pitches…
“I feel really good. I was begging Coach (Childress) for that eighth inning. He was going to go with (Cason) Sherrod and I just said that I felt like I had been getting better throughout the game and it was nice to go back out there and be able to repeat what I’ve been doing. The guys were definitely having fun behind me so it made it a lot easier.”
On catcher Cole Bedford…
“Bedford caught the best game I think he’s ever caught. He was a bulldog back there and it always helps to have a guy like him behind the plate.”
Story courtesy of Texas A&M Athletics