After a devastating 16-5 loss against Santa Clara in Game 2 of its three-game series, Texas A&M baseball dialed in and secured a late-game victory in Game 3 with the help of some stellar bats and a Dallas native who sent the Broncos packing.
A&M defeated Santa Clara 5-2 on Sunday, March 13, securing both the series win and its 10th win of the season. The Aggies accumulated seven hits, four RBIs and five strikeouts from the maroon and white pitching staff.
After three scoreless innings and a quiet start with the bats, the Aggies were in need of a spark and got exactly that when junior Austin Bost walked up to the plate.
It was the bottom of the fourth, the count was 2-0 and Santa Clara had just secured an out after graduate Kole Kaler grounded out on an attempted bunt. Broncos pitcher Jared Feikes started from the stretch, winded up and released.
Bost sent the ball flying over the left-field fence, bouncing off A&M’s student Recreation Center right behind Olsen Field, giving the Aggies a 1-0 lead.
With the score tied at two in the bottom of the seventh, sophomore Logan Britt and graduate Dylan Rock walked up to the plate and hit back-to-back doubles, which gave A&M a 3-2 lead going into the final two innings.
Rock was called up to pinch-hit for freshman Austin Stracener and said he had to take advantage of the opportunity given to him.
“I had to stay ready the whole time, ready for any moment if I need to come in the game off the bench to compete,” Rock said.
As for the success on the mound, freshman left-handed pitcher Ryan Prager had a solid outing with three strikeouts, two hits and one walk. With a 5-2 lead going into the bottom of the ninth, graduate pitcher Jacob Palisch forced one fly out and two strikeouts to finish off the Broncos and secure the series win.
A&M coach Jim Schlossnagle said he couldn’t be more proud of how his pitchers performed in the matchup, despite the bullpen struggling to get any strikeouts.
“I told the team that it’s been a long time since I have been as proud of a team as I am of these guys today,” Schlossnagle said. “Prager goes out there and pitches six-plus scoreless innings and then we don’t throw strikes out of the bullpen, guys that have been throwing strikes, so it is ugly, but we will take it.”
A&M returns to Olsen Field on Tuesday, March 15 at 6:30 p.m. to battle the Houston Cougars for the schools’ 35th matchup.