The No. 20 Aggie baseball team began a three game SEC series on Friday against the No. 6 Arkansas Razorbacks at Arkansas’ Baum Stadium. The Razorbacks handled A&M fairly easily in game one as they took the 9-3 win. With the win, Arkansas improves to 34-15 (15-10 SEC), while A&M falls to 34-15 (12-13 SEC).
Arkansas kicked off the scoring immediately in the bottom of the first as they put up four runs off of Aggie junior starter Mitchell Kilkenny. The Aggies then answered with one in the top of the second thanks to sophomore catcher Hunter Coleman’s solo home run. Then, the Aggies closed out their scoring and got within one of the Razorbacks after freshman designated hitter Will Frizzell’s two run home run that scored Coleman. The Razorbacks then added a five spot in the bottom of the fifth to put the Aggies away.
Possibly the story of the night was Arkansas junior starter Blaine Knight’s strong performance. Knight threw seven innings, giving up just three earned runs on the two home runs, five hits, and no walks. Knight also struck out 11 Aggies in his outing on Friday night. Arkansas junior reliever Jake Reindl tossed the last two innings after Knight, giving up no runs on just one hit.
The Arkansas offense was led by freshman third baseman Casey Martin, senior second baseman Carson Shaddy, and sophomore center fielder Dominic Fletcher. Martin went 3-4 with an RBI, Shaddy went 1-3 with three RBIs on a three run home run, and Fletcher went 2-4 with an RBI and two runs scored.
Kilkenny had a tough start for the Aggies, throwing 4.1 innings in which he gave up seven earned runs on nine hits. Kilkenny also walked three and struck out three. A good sign from the A&M pitching staff came in the form of freshman lefty Chandler Jozwiak. Jozwiak threw the last 3.2 innings of the game, giving up no runs, no hits, and struck out three.
The Aggie offense was led by Frizzell, Coleman, and freshman center fielder Zach DeLoach. Frizzell went 1-3 with the two run home run, Coleman went 2-4 with the home run and two runs scored, and DeLoach went 2-4 on the game.
The Aggies and Razorbacks will be back at it tomorrow as they play game two of the series. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m.