Despite an early deficit, Texas A&M fought back on Tuesday night and toppled Texas Pan-American with eleven hits and excellent fielding in the 10-4 win at Blue Bell Park.
“Things didn’t start the way we wanted them to obviously in the first inning but I was real proud of our team,” head coach Rob Childress said. “Maybe it was the most important win of the year thus far, for us to answer back after they scored three and had all the momentum.”
Wild pitches and fielding errors plagued the Aggies in the top of the first, allowing the Broncos to jump to an early 3-0 lead. Freshman pitcher Corey Ray lasted 3.2 innings, allowing seven hits and four scores before being replaced by freshman pitcher Gandy Stubblefield. After inheriting runners on second and third and walking the first batter, he forced a weak grounder to quell the threat but eventually ceded a run in the fourth. A combined effort from senior Estevan Uriegas, freshman Jason Freeman, and freshman Parker Ray held Pan Am scoreless for the remaining five innings. Uriegas, who lasted an inning and retired all three batters he faced, earned the win, his third of the season.
“Every time I’m asked about him, I say he’s playing up to his potential, nothing more,” Childress said. “He hasn’t done anything more than he’s done his last three years, he’s just pitching up to his potential.”
After stifling the side in the first inning, Pan Am’s Guadalupe Barrera had trouble containing A&M’s feisty bats. A pair of sophomores, catcher Troy Stein and left fielder Jace Statum, sent long balls into the outfield that allowed the Aggies to get on the board in the second, slackening the Broncos’ clutch on the game with a two-run rally.
The tug of war continued into the fourth, when Stein responded to a Bronco score by rocketing an RBI-double into deep left-center, and it was all Aggies from that point on.
After a fifth inning double from senior first baseman Jacob House tied the game at 4-4, the Aggies used a four-run barrage in the sixth to seal the deal. With one out and the bases juiced, junior right fielder Tyler Naquin took the plate and lived up to his All-American billing, ripping a double off the wall in right-center and scoring two base runners.
“There’s not a person here in the stadium that wears maroon who doesn’t want that to be our guy up with the bases loaded,” Childress said. “That’s who you want up there. That’s your best guy.”
House extended the Aggies lead with a sacrifice fly, and Naquin took home on an errant Bronco throw to give the Aggies the 8-4 lead. Statum’s single in the seventh brought home sophomore center fielder Krey Bratsen, who had stolen both second and third bases, giving A&M the final game score of 9-4.
Bratsen connected on half of his at bats, Statum went a perfect 2-for-2, and junior shortstop Mikey Reynolds contributed two doubles, bringing his team-leading total up to eight.
“We knew they were throwing a lot of off-speed pitches and their fastball couldn’t beat us,” Reynolds said. “So it was kind of just, ‘Sit back. They’re not gonna beat you with the fastball, they’re not gonna beat you inside, so just see the pitch up and drive it.’ And that’s what we did.”
The come-from-behind win, even though it didn’t come against a national powerhouse, once again proved the gritty nature of this Aggie ballclub.
“Winning’s hard,” Childress said, “And losing’s easy. All you’ve gotta do is show up and put on these pretty uniforms and you can lose. It’s hard to win and our guys understand that. They grinded tonight and were able to run past them.”
The Aggies 1:05 p.m. matchup against the Broncos tomorrow holds the next spot on the schedule, but many fans are already looking toward this weekend’s showdown against Kansas State, which marks the incipience of conference play.
“I can’t wait for Big 12 ball to start,” said Joel Douthit, senior sports management major. “This is our year.”