The No. 25 Texas A&M baseball team wasted no time Wednesday at Olsen Field at Blue Bell Park, scoring five runs in the first two innings of its 6-0 victory over Texas Southern (5-9).
“I was really proud of our pitching and we played great defense behind our guys,” Childress said. “We came out and scored early and were very professional in our approach tonight. I thought we came out and just took care of business.”
With two outs in the first inning, J.B. Moss and Krey Bratsen scored as junior designated hitter Logan Nottebrok reached base on an error by Bobcats first baseman Tyler Edwards.
In the second inning, the Aggies loaded the bases without recording a hit thanks to walks from freshman right fielder Nick Banks, Bratsen and freshman second baseman Ryne Birk, who reached on an error. Junior first baseman Cole Lankford ripped a 2-1 pitch just inside the first base bag for a bases clearing double, giving the Aggies a five run lead.
“It felt great to come out here and get another W in the win column,” Lankford said. “That’s the ultimate goal – try to get as many wins as possible.”
Sophomore left-handed pitcher Matt Kent said the early lead allowed him to be comfortable on the mound.
“It makes it a lot easier to perform,” Kent said. “You can make some more mistakes, you can be a little more risky with some of your pitch calls. With a lead it makes it a lot easier on myself and on the defense because they know they can play loose as well.”
A&M loaded the bases in the fourth inning after back-to-back singles from Bratsen and Lankford followed by a two-out full-count walk drawn by sophomore third baseman Hunter Melton. Nottebrok then drew a four-pitch walk to bring Bratsen home – earning him his team-leading 13th run batted in on the season.
Kent made his first start of the season and went a career-long six innings allowing three hits, a walk and striking out nine on just 77 pitches.
“It was great to be back starting instead of coming out of the bullpen,” Kent said. “Once I fell into a routine, it became fairly easy to stay in rhythm and work with Mitch [Nau] and Coach Childress on what pitches are best to get certain hitters out.”
The Aggies made the most of their opportunities – posting a .357 (5-17) batting average as a team and scoring every run Wednesday with two outs.
Four Aggies pitchers – Kent, Corey Ray, Rex Hill and Mark Ecker – stranded all of the Bobcats base runners and did not allow a hit to TSU, which went 0-7 with runners in scoring position.
A&M (9-4) continues its six-game homestand at 6:35 p.m. Friday for its first of a three game series against Louisiana Tech.