Texas A&M baseball’s 6-5 victory on Saturday night over the Tennessee Volunteers improved its record to 23-18 on the season and 5-12 in the SEC.
A&M coach Rob Childress said he was proud of the way his team battled back from a 6-1 loss earlier in the day against Tennessee.
“This win was incredibly important,” Childress said. “The should-have, could-have and would-haves have to go out the window. We have to find ways to win, and I am proud of our guys. There were down dead in the water but we found a way to fight, scratch and claw to win this thing. It was a heroic performance out of Mason Ornelas and Chandler Jozwiak with a heads up play from Mikey Hoehner at the end.”
Tennessee got off to a fast start against A&M starting pitcher Bryce Miller by scoring four runs in his four innings of work. On the other hand, A&M’s offense struggled to put together any consistent offense early on against Tennessee starting pitcher Will Heflin. Tennessee led 4-0 going into the bottom of the fourth.
A&M finally got onto board in the fourth off Heflin after Will Frizzell hit a two-run home run to bring A&M to within two runs.
After three innings of scoreless baseball, Tennessee picked up a run in the top of the seventh off Ornelas to increase their lead to 5-2 going into the bottom of the seventh.
A&M made its run in the next half inning. Kalae Harrison started off with an RBI single to cut their deficit once again to two runs. Austin Bost tied the game at 5 on a 2-RBI double. Frizzell gave A&M the lead on a sacrifice fly. A&M led 6-5 going into the top of the eighth inning.
A&M reliever Chandler Jozwiak proceeded to throw two scoreless innings to close out the victory for the Aggies. Jozwiak said he was happy to pick up the save for his team.
“It’s amazing when you go out there and get a save like that,” Jozwiak said. “You help the team win. Like I’ve said multiple times when I go out there, it’s for the team, for the guys to the right and the left of me, and my brothers in the locker room. They work very hard. The offense did an amazing job to come back like that. Bryce [Miller] didn’t have his stuff today, and for the hitters to keeping coming at them, you know, that’s a great pitching team, and it was amazing to get the save for them, so it was pretty cool.”
One of the main reasons A&M remained within striking range was because of the bullpens stellar work. After Miller exited the game prior to the fourth inning, A&M reliever Ornelas and Jozwiak combined to throw five innings while giving up only one run. Childress said the performance of the bullpen was one of the main reasons why A&M won Saturday.
“Our bullpen tonight was important, since we have been shakier the last couple weeks,” Childress said. “For those guys to find their groove made the difference. Chris Weber was the sharpest I have seen him all spring long and Mason Ornelas came in when we needed him. The bullpen gave us a chance to win.”
Up next for the Aggies is the final game in their home series against Tennessee. First pitch at Blue Bell Park is set for noon.