On Sunday morning, Texas A&M faced Auburn at Dell Diamond to finish off the Round Rock Classic. The Aggies lost to the Tigers, 6-1, snapping their three-game win streak.
Neither team found a way to pull ahead in the game’s opening three innings, as the Tigers left two runners stranded and the Aggies failed to get on base. In the top of the fourth inning, Auburn drew first blood, as junior Tyler Miller came in to score on a single by junior Kason Howell, giving the Tigers a 1-0 lead.
The game remained a defensive slugfest until the top of the seventh inning. With the bases loaded, senior Steven Williams singled to right field, bringing home Howell and sophomore Brayton Brown to extend the Tigers’ lead to three. Runs by Miller and junior Bryson Ware at the top of the eighth gave the Tigers a 5-0 advantage. Junior Ryan Bliss added to the lead at the top of the ninth, giving Auburn a commanding 6-0 lead.
In the bottom of the ninth, the Aggies were able to get on the board, when junior Will Frizzell doubled in the right-center gap and scored on a sacrifice fly by junior Logan Sartori. The late push fell short though, as Auburn claimed the 6-1 victory.
Despite being saddled with the loss, redshirt sophomore Jonathan Childress only allowed one run, four hits and three walks in a career-high 6.0 innings. Freshmen Will Johnston and Gabe Craig each earned one strikeout in relief. The six strikeout outing snapped the Aggies’ seven-game streak of double-digit strikeouts.
Following the game, A&M coach Rob Childress acknowledged the team’s disappointment with the loss, but was impressed with the Aggies’ pitching in the early innings.
“I thought it was a really good weekend for us,” Childress said. “I certainly would have liked to have won today and gone 3-0, but it was a pitcher’s duel for six innings. Both pitchers went nose-to-nose, we made two mistakes and had a few strikeouts, and they grabbed the lead. The difference today was that their bullpen was a lot better than ours.”
The Aggies fall to 4-4 on the season, while the Tigers improve to 6-3.
A&M’s season continues on Tuesday, when the Aggies host Houston Baptist at Blue Bell Park on March 2.