The Texas A&M baseball team improved to 4-3 on the season with an 8-1 win over Oklahoma win. The win marks the Aggies’ third straight and second win in the Round Rock Classic.
A&M coach Rob Childress said he was happy with the way senior starting pitcher Bryce Miller performed in the game.
“He was a little bit more consistent tonight,” Childress said. “We have seen him better, and I know he expects better of himself, as far as just getting us deep in the game. His command has been so much better and I think it will be moving forward, but again it was as a step forward from last week. He got us through five innings, and each time they did get an opportunity to get the momentum back in Oklahoma’s dugout he was able to make pitches and get us out off the field, which is incredibly important. So did Alex Magers and Joseph Menefee as well, Oklahoma had a chance for a big hit and grab the momentum, but none of those guys gave it up. Bryce Miller was very good tonight, five innings, one hit, and didn’t score a run so you couldn’t ask for much more.”
After holding the Sooners scoreless in the top of the first, the Aggies came out in the bottom of the inning and scored seven runs on a sacrifice fly, a trio of RBI singles, and a 3-run home run from Logan Britt.
Junior infielder Justin Schmidt said he was proud of the way the team started off the game.
“It is incredible when you get off and score runs in the first inning,” Schmidt said. “We took advantage of a couple of free bases from the other team’s pitcher. We also caught a couple barrels and Logan Britt put an incredible swing to tack on a little extra, so that is great to see. From there on out, we put together a couple of good at-bats throughout the game, and I think that kept the momentum on our side.”
Miller kept the Sooners in check offensively by throwing five shutout innings and also struck out five batters. This marked his first career collegiate win as a starter. Miller noted how much work it took to get to this point.
“It felt good. It’s been a long time coming,” Miller said. “I put a lot of work in this spot, so it felt good for it to finally start to come together.”
In the bottom of the fourth, A&M tacked on another run after Schmidt hit an RBI triple to score Austin Bost.
Oklahoma broke up the shutout after the Sooners scored a run in the sixth to make the final score 8-1.
Britt said he and the rest of the team are excited to have the chance to sweep the Round Rock Classic tomorrow at 11 a.m against the Auburn Tigers.
“The mindset is good,” Britt said. “We didn’t come here to win two or one. We came here to sweep, so I feel really good.”