On a night before over 100,000 people packed Kyle Field for a matchup against Alabama, Texas A&M fans got a chance to check out how their favorite team across the train tracks is shaping up during the fall season.
The Aggie baseball team played host to Houston Christian for a 14-inning fall exhibition matchup on Friday, Oct. 6 at Olsen Field. Admission to the game was free, and those in attendance got to watch A&M win in convincing fashion, 20-2.
Both the hitters and pitchers from the Maroon and White dominated the Huskies from the get-go.
In the first two innings, it was the starting pitchers who shined. Junior pitcher Chris Cortez threw two scoreless innings for the Aggies while his counterpart,freshman Houston Christian pitcher Rye Gunter, matched him.
Cortez received some help in the second inning from senior Stanford transfer OF Braden Montgomery, who threw out a Huskies runner at third, preventing a dangerous situation with no outs.
After Gunter was relieved through two innings of work, the Aggie bats began to roll with a four-run third inning.
Senior DH Hayden Schott got the scoring started with a double into the right-center gap, bringing home junior SS Ali Camarillo. The next at-bat, sophomore catcher Max Kaufer crushed a pitch over the left-field wall, putting the Aggies up 3-0.
To cap off the scoring in the third, senior 1B Ryan Targac lined a single into center field with the bases loaded, bringing in sophomore CF Jace LaViolette.
Junior pitcher Tanner Jones relieved Cortez in the third, throwing two scoreless innings while striking out four batters swinging.
In the fifth inning, A&M fans got their first look at the hitting skills of Montgomery, As he scorched an RBI double into right-center field, leaving the bat at 111 mph. Two batters later, Targac stretched the Aggie lead to 8-0, hooking a three-run home run just inside the foul pole in left.
The following inning, Schott added to his RBI total by lining a run-scoring single into right field, plating Camarillo.
While the Aggie hitting continued to roll, the pitching followed behind. Junior pitcher Troy Wansing pitched two scoreless innings, striking out three.
After seven innings, the teams changed their lineups for the back half of the game with the Aggies ahead 9-0. However, the lineup change wouldn’t slow down the Aggie bats as freshman 1B Blake Binderup launched a three-run homer over the scoreboard in left field in the eighth inning.
It took nine innings for the Huskies to score, as they added their first run of the night on a dropped ball by Binderup at first, scoring HCU freshman outfielder Lane Sparks. Later in the inning, The Huskies’ freshman OF William Jewell singled into right off junior pitcher Josh Stewart, scoring another run.
The Aggies scored four runs in an inning for the second time in the 10th inning. Senior OF Travis Chestnut singled to left to plate the first run in the inning. With runners on first and third, freshman infielder Jack Bell ripped a hard ground ball down the left field line, plating a pair of Aggies. The inning was capped off by a sacrifice fly from Binderup, scoring Bell.
Three more runs came across for the Aggies in the 12th, starting with an RBI double down the left field line that just barely landed in fair territory from freshman Brady Sullivan.
Chestnut recorded his second RBI of the day with a run-scoring infield single back up the middle. He later came in to score after he stole third and advanced home on an errant throw into left field.
The 20th and final run of the game for the Maroon and White came in the 13th inning with a single into left field off the bat of sophomore infielder Cade Clime.
Freshman pitcher Luke Jackson finished off the win for the Aggies with a shutout inning in the 14th, closing out the Aggies lone home exhibition in the fall.
However, the fall season remains unfinished for the Maroon and White. A&M will play a final fall exhibition on Oct. 20 at Schroeder Park to face Houston.