After a statement win over then-No. 8 Texas on Tuesday, March 29, morale was high as the Aggies headed to Tuscaloosa, Ala., for the first of a three-game series against the Crimson Tide on Friday, April 1.
Heading into the matchup, A&M is looking to break .500 in conference play, as they are currently 3-3 against SEC opponents and are sitting at third place in the SEC West.
Junior Brett Minnich led the way offensively for the maroon and white, as he was responsible for all three runs A&M would score over the course of the game. After the Crimson Tide took an early 1-0 lead, Minnich managed to drive graduate outfielder Dylan Rock in with an RBI double in the fourth to tie things up. In his next at-bat, Minich hit a two-run shot to right field, his first of the year, bringing the score to 3-1.
On the mound for the Aggies, sophomore righty Nathan Dettmer got hot quickly. The San Antonio native pitched a season-high 6.1 innings, and kept Bama’s bats quiet with seven Ks while only allowing one run on the night. Following his seventh strikeout of the night, Dettmer went on to walk the next two batters, bringing his career night to an end.
“I thought Dettmer was outstanding,” coach Jim Schlossnagle told TexAgs. “It’s been a while since we had a legit Friday-night starter, and I think Dettmer gave us that.”
Freshman RHP Chris Cortez came in for relief, but was quickly replaced by another freshman RHP Brad Rudis after Cortez ran into trouble with two outs in the bottom of the eighth. Rudis took down four-consecutive batters to secure his second save of the season, giving the Aggies a 3-2 victory.
After a lackluster start to the season, the Aggies have been finding their stride since starting SEC play. Offensively, things have begun to turn around as A&M now has 12 home runs in the past eight games and, heading into the game against Alabama, was batting .314 in the past seven games. This charge has been led by Rock’s powerful presence in the batting box. Rock was riding a 10-game hit streak heading into Friday night’s action, including five homers and 10 runs during the span, expanding on his already very productive season.
The Aggies are now one of 11 remaining teams in college baseball who haven’t lost back-to-back games this season, improving to 9-0 on the year in games immediately following a loss. This is momentum the maroon and white will hope to keep as they push for postseason play.
First pitch for Game 2 of the series against Alabama will be at 4 p.m., Saturday, April 2 at Sewell-Thomas Stadium.