Some standards are meant to be raised, and some records are made to be broken.
In its midweek matchup against Prairie View A&M University, Texas A&M baseball did both.
Propelled by a fourth inning offensive attack, the Aggies topped their season-high of nine runs in a single inning by scoring ten — fittingly characterized by hitting a season-high three home runs in one frame.
The Wednesday evening slugfest began with sunny skies and a starting pitcher debut for redshirt freshman RHP Ty Sexton. However, after allowing three runs from the Panthers’ offense through an inning and two thirds of defensive play, he was relieved by senior LHP Matt Dillard.
“I actually thought Sexton pitched really well,” coach Jim Schlossnagle said. “I thought he had some really tough luck — he gave up four hits in the first inning … I thought we handled that well.”
In the bottom of the second frame, the Aggies tentatively began to fight back. After senior 2B Austin Bost drew a walk, a base hit into center field from freshman LF Kaeden Kent sent him to home plate, putting the maroon and white on the board with a score of 3-1.
After Dillard staved off the Panthers’ offense in the third inning, a pair of doubles from junior C Hank Bard and junior DH Jack Moss would score another run, leaving the visitors with a shrunken one-run lead.
In the fourth inning, the Aggies got to work.
The bottom of the frame began with a base hit from junior 1B Ryan Targac, and a two-run blast from Kent would allow the maroon and white to grab the lead. The home run was the first of his career.
“It feels good,” Kent said. “I haven’t had it in awhile.”
A series of walks from an inconsistent Panther bullpen walked in two more runs and loaded the bases for senior RF Brett Minnich, who wasted no time launching a grand slam onto the train tracks behind Section 12 in the outfield.
After Bost’s plate appearance resulted in another walk, senior CF Jordan Thompson hit the third home run of the inning off of the scoreboard in left field, allowing the Fightin’ Farmers to take a 12-3 lead.
“Especially when the wind is blowing the way it is, our team has the chance to hit some home runs,” Schlossnagle said. “If they set the table for us, we’re going to get big innings.”
In the top of the fifth inning, Dillard was replaced by sophomore RHP Chris Cortez, who continued to shut down the Panthers’ offense.
After a scoreless fifth inning for the Aggies’ offense and a 1-2-3 top of the sixth for Cortez, Targac opened the bottom of the sixth frame with a triple down the third baseline, and a sacrifice fly from Kent allowed him to score one more run.
Junior RHP Jaren Warwick entered the game in the seventh inning and provided the three outs necessary for A&M to run-rule the visiting team 13-3.
“[Warwick] hasn’t been out there in awhile, and he went out there and did his job,” Dillard said. “It’s huge for us as a pitching staff to see guys like that get their name called and get the job done.”
The maroon and white will look to continue their offensive successes against the University of Kentucky in Lexington, Kentucky this weekend, with the series against the Wildcats slated to begin Friday, April 21, at 6:30 p.m.