No. 8 Texas A&M baseball topped the Demons of Northwestern State, 6-1 on Tuesday night at Olsen Field. The Aggies are now 12-1 on the season and remain an undefeated, 10-0, at home, Northwestern State fell to 7-5 with the loss.
“Give our guys credit for keeping the game close and just staying in the moment and not squeezing it too tight,” Texas A&M head coach Rob Childress said. “We didn’t play tight or nervous. We just got our shot and made it matter.”
The play of the game came in the bottom of the sixth inning when Will Frizzell placed a ball over Northwestern State center fielder Kwan Adkins. The freshman’s hit cleared the bases, driving in three runs and capping off a five-run inning for the Aggies.
Earlier in the inning, freshman Zach Deloach walked and then advanced on a balk by pitcher Jerry Maddox. Deloach was driven in my a double down the infield line from sophomore Michael Helman to break that tie and put the score at 2-1. A single to left center from fellow sophomore Braden Shewmake then put Helman across the plate and forced Northwestern State to make a pitching change.
After a steal of second base by Shewmake, Hunter Coleman and Logan Foster both got on base before the base-clearing double by Frizzell.
“You got to make those hits matter when you don’t get a lot of them, we certainly did that tonight,” Childress said. “Their starting pitcher was outstanding and retired the first 11 in a row and had all four pitches working. Just really good, we were very fortunate to keep the game close. Chandler Jozwiak was really good, we played great defense behind him.”
It was a slow start at the plate for Texas A&M, who only had six total hits in the game. The Aggies did not record a hit until the fourth inning when Shewmake managed a single through the right side.
“It just felt good to get the bats rolling after the fourth,” Frizzell said. “We got back to the approach and finished the game how we finished the weekend on Sunday.”
Northwestern State scored first after a ground-rule double from David Fry brought Sam Taylor home in the top of the third inning. The Aggies did not respond until the bottom of the fifth when Logan Foster scored off an Aaron Walters ground out to second.
Helman and Shewmake paced the Aggie bats, each going 2-for-4 with a run and RBI each. Frizzell led the team in RBI’s with three, all coming off his double in the sixth inning.
The Aggies’ starting pitcher Chandler Jozwiak began the game hot, punching six strikeouts through three innings. He managed five innings, allowing five hits and one run, walking none and striking out eight.
“I just trusted my stuff going out there and throwing strikes and going after them, not being picky with my pitches,” Jozwiak said. “I was making them earn it if they were going to get a hit.”
Nolan Hoffman came to the mound for Texas A&M to start the sixth inning. The junior pitched three full innings, allowing only three hits and striking out five. Sophomore Chris Andritsos took care of business in the ninth to seal the win for the Aggies.
“Our bullpen is unbelievable…,” Jozwiak said. “It’s really a good feeling knowing that if you get in trouble they can come in and stop it right them and there.”
The Aggies will play the second game of a two-game series against Northwestern State tomorrow afternoon, with first pitch set for 3:00.
Texas A&M will then have four more home games, three against Long Beach State and one against UT Arlington, before their SEC play gets underway at Auburn on March 16.