After getting a win in game one against the Dayton Flyers 4-1, the eighth ranked Texas A&M Aggies lost
an emotionally charged game against the Rebels of Ole Miss 6-3.
With the loss, the Aggies will face the TCU Horned Frogs who beat Dayton in an elimination game earlier
on Saturday 28-12. In order to advance from the College Station Regional, the Aggies would have to
defeat TCU, then face Ole Miss once again, still needing to win that game to push it to a winner-take all
game Monday afternoon.
“I thought it was a hard-fought ballgame,” Texas A&M head coach Rob Childress said. “Give Ole Miss
credit, I thought they played better than we did. We certainly had opportunities to get big hits and drive
in runs but we just didn’t do that.”
In game one against Dayton Friday night, the Aggies started things off right away in the first inning when
A&M right fielder Tyler Naquin, who just on Thursday received All-American Honors from Collegiate
Baseball, continued his offensive tear with a leadoff double. Aggie third baseman Matt Juengel would
bring home Naquin on an RBI single up the middle to give the Aggies the 1-0 early lead.
In the bottom of the third inning, senior first baseman Jacob House, roped a double to right field and
later advanced on a wild pitch to give the Aggies a chance to do damage. After Dayton pitcher Mike
Hauschild loaded the bases by walking catcher Troy Stein and left fielder Brandon Wood, shortstop
Mikey Reynolds was patient and took another walk bring home House and giving the Aggies the 2-0
lead.
House would come up big in the fourth inning as he has done so fo many times in an Aggie uniform and
brought home Naquin to put the Aggies up 3-0 after four innings.
From the start of the game, Wacha was sharp with his pitching command as he would go on to pitch 7.1
innings allowing only five hits, striking out nine Dayton batters while only issuing three walks. It is worth
noting that most of the runners that were put on base by Wacha came with two outs, making it difficult
for Dayton to score any runs with only one out to work with.
“It seemed like I was able to get those first two outs then walk somebody or give up a hit,” Wacha
said. “But my defense played good behind me, and I was able to get out of the innings without any
harm.”
In the bottom of the seventh inning, the Aggies were able to extend their lead 4-0 as a few Dayton
errors gave the Aggies extra opportunities to bat, which the Aggies did not waste. Pinch-hitter Chance
Bolcerek scored on a fielding error when Reynolds hit a sharp grounder to Dayton shortstop Brian Blasik.
The Flyers would plate a run in the top of the eighth inning when Aggie second baseman Scott Arthur
made a bad throw allowing Daytons right fielder C.J. Gillman to cut the lead 4-1.
The bullpen, which has been top notch all year, shut the door as relievers Estevan Uriegas and Kyle
Martin combined for 1.2 innings allowing one unearned run while allowing only one hit.
The play of the night came in the top of the third inning when Dayton catcher Kurris Duggan thought
he had a single as the ball went into right field, but Naquin threw the ball with that strong arm of his to
throw Duggan out at first. The play was so spectacular that it was number six on ESPNs Sportscenter
nightly Top 10 Plays.
Game twp saw the Aggies top of the lineup do the heavy lifting as junior right fielder Tyler Naquin
continued his hot streak with the bat by putting the Aggies on the scoreboard first in the top of the third
inning with an RBI double to right field. Naquin would then score on a throwing error committed by Ole
Miss giving the Aggies the 2-0 lead.
Ole Miss would tie the game in the bottom half of the inning on an error and a wild pitch.
Things got interesting in the bottom of the fourth as there were controversial calls as the first base
umpire called a ball fair when it appeared to be foul, as well as calling a ball fielded by House foul when
House believed it was fair. After the two calls, Ole Misss Matt Snyder had a two RBI double deep to
center field giving the Rebels a 4-2 lead.
After allowing the Rebels to score two more runs in the bottom of the sixth inning, the Aggies tried
everything they could to comeback in the game.
Aggie shortstop Mickey Reynolds scored on a double down the left field line by center fielder Krey
Bratsen cutting the lead down to 6-3.
The Rebel bullpen would not allow the Aggies to get the key hit with runners on, limiting the Aggies to
go 1-12 with runners on.
“I think we were 1-for-12 with runners in scoring position,” Childress added. “When you do that you
usually get what we got tonight, and that’s a loss.”
With the loss, the Aggies will face elimination games through the rest of the regional starting with a
faceoff against TCU at 12:35 p.m. at Olsen Field at Blue Bell Park. The winner of the game will then face
the Rebels of Ole Miss later on in the day at 6:35 p.m.