Texas A&M baseball faced off with the UIC Flames Sunday afternoon at Olsen Field as part of a weekend series between the teams. The Aggies dropped their first game of the series and the season, losing 7-2.
The turning point of the game came in the top of the sixth inning as the Flames drove in a run and immediately followed that up with a two-run home run. UIC would go on to score in every inning following the sixth, as the Aggies struggled with pitching and defensive woes.
While four pitchers rotated into the game, it was freshman Jonathan Childress who earned the start. He pitched five innings, allowing four hits and three runs with two strikeouts.
A&M head coach Rob Childress said the freshman’s performance, despite the loss, gives the team confidence early in the season.
“He was marvellous for five innings,” Rob Childress said. “He’s been outstanding, I mean he’s up to 94 miles per hour with a wipe out curveball and a four-pitch mix, and he’s been great. He’s a guy that we’re going to need in order to do what we want to do.”
Jonathan Childress said he learned from today’s performance and can use this experience going forward.
“There’s a lot of positives to take from it,” Jonathan Childress said. “I got behind a couple hitters, made a couple mistakes, gave up a couple runs. I would have liked for it to have gone differently, but I learned a lot from it. My location was better than it has been recently, and I was just trying to throw everything for a strike and be confident in everything I was throwing.”
Hitting was also an issue that plagued the day, as A&M got only two runs on five hits.
Junior infielder Bryce Blaum hit a solo home run in the bottom of the first to get the Aggies on the board, and this was followed by a deep hit by junior catcher Mikey Hoehner that brought in junior outfielder Ty Condel to score in the third inning.
With the score at 2-0, the game seemed to be in A&M’s favor, but the team could not keep the batting pace flowing and would not score again.
Hoehner said he believes the team will bounce back from today’s loss and will be ready for their game against Houston Baptist on Tuesday.
“I think we have a really good culture, and I think the leaders and the veterans of this team will be able to take control of this team,” Hoehner said. “I think Tuesday will be a really great night for us.”
Houston Baptist has a 4-2 record on the season and is currently maintaining a two-game win streak with victories over Northeastern and Cincinnati.
A&M falls to 7-1 on the season and is set to host the Huskies at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday at Olsen Field.