On Friday, the No. 18 Aggie baseball team welcomed No. 1 Florida to Blue Bell Park for the start of a three-game SEC series. Through five innings, the Aggies and Gators were tight thanks to two strong performances from each starting pitcher, but Florida proceeded to take the game over in the top of the sixth and came out with the game one win 7-0. With the win, No. 1 Florida improves to 37-10 (17-5 SEC) and with the loss, A&M goes to 33-13 (11-10 SEC).
The Gators opened their scoring in the top of the first when Aggie third baseman George Janca couldn’t make the throw on a groundball with a Florida runner on third, allowing the runner to score. Then, things were tight until the top of the sixth when Florida tacked on four runs.
Aggie junior starting pitcher Mitchell Kilkenny turned in a strong performance before he was replaced by A&M senior lefty Kaylor Chafin who gave up a series of hits and all four runs in the top of the sixth. Florida would add two more runs in the top of the eighth on a single and a sac-fly and two in the ninth on a two-RBI double to close out its scoring. The closest A&M came to scoring off of Florida starter Brady Singer was in the fourth when the Aggies had the bases loaded with two outs, but Janca flew out to end the inning.
“[Singer] was really good,” Aggie head coach Rob Childress said. “For you to have a chance to beat him, you have to be really good on the mound yourself. I thought Mitchell Kilkenny was outstanding, maybe as good as I’ve seen him pitch in his career here. Give the Florida hitters some credit, in the sixth inning with two outs and nobody on, they strung five hits together and put the game away.”
The Florida offense was led by senior catcher JJ Schwarz, junior second baseman Blake Reese, and junior shortstop Deacon Liput. Schwarz went 4-5 with four RBIs and two runs scored, Reese went 3-4 with two RBIs, and Liput went 3-5 with two runs scored from the leadoff spot.
A&M didn’t have much offensive production, but junior right fielder Chandler Morris led the way, going 2-3 at the plate.
“I was trying to do whatever I can for the team,” Morris, who also had two nice catches in right field, said. “We’re really trying to grind out wins right now since we’re in the dog days of the season. [Singer] is obviously a top-notch guy. He has really good stuff and really good command.”
Kilkenny tossed 5.2 innings for A&M, giving up three earned runs on six hits, and struck out seven. Singer threw all nine innings, shutting out the Aggies while striking out three, giving up just six hits and no walks.
“As far as having all my stuff and putting it where I wanted, it was probably one of my best outings in college,” Kilkenny said. “But that’s how baseball works, sometimes you have your best and you lose, but the fact of the matter is is that I couldn’t get it done for my team tonight.”
The Aggies will be back in action on Saturday as they take on the Gators in game two of the series. First pitch is scheduled for 4 p.m.