Coming off a series win against SEC foe Ole Miss, the home crowd was treated to another close game at Blue Bell Park where Texas A&M baseball survived a scare from Texas State to win 10-9 on Tuesday, April 5.
The Bobcats came into the match with three straight midweek wins, with the Aggies looking to disrupt their rhythm. A&M gave the keys to sophomore LHP Troy Wansing to start the game, marking his first start in a midweek game.
The game opened up with scoring right off the bat. The Bobcats set the tempo with an RBI by sophomore 1B Daylan Pena for redshirt senior CF Ben McClain to score. Then, with bases loaded, sophomore DH Ryan Leary nailed a grand slam to left field, reeling in Pena, senior LF Jose Gonzalez and junior SS Davis Powell. Following the runs, A&M substituted redshirt freshman RHP Ty Sexton for Wansing.
The maroon and white responded immediately with senior RF Brett Minnich hitting an RBI single for junior SS Hunter Haas to score. The Aggies hit another RBI single after, with junior 3B Trevor Werner bringing senior 2B Austin Bost home. Though junior DH Ryan Targac struck out, freshman LF Jace LaViolette doubled to center field to bring home Werner and Minnich. The final run in the bottom of the first came from an error by Powell, allowing LaViolette to score for the Aggies.
After a high-scoring first inning of 5-5, both teams settled down until the fourth inning, where Haas gave A&M its first lead. He homered to left field to score two runs, bringing in freshman C Max Kaufer.
The Aggies extended their lead to 9-5 in the bottom of the fifth with senior CF Jordan Thompson cranking a homer to left center, bringing LaViolette home once again.
The Bobcats pounced at the top of the sixth. Pena brought back momentum for Texas State with a three-RBI double to right center. Powell, McClain and redshirt junior C Peyton Zabel scored runs to bring the score to 9-8.
As the game went down to the wire, Texas State tied the game up in the top of the seventh with a homer by junior RF Cade Manning.
However, the winning run was scored by Bost, when he doubled to left center at the bottom of the seventh to bring junior 1B Jack Moss home.
Following the win, coach Jim Schlossnagle said that the night’s win, though not the best, is one of his favorite wins so far.
“It was kind of a frustrating game, but also this might be my favorite win of the season so far,” Schlossnagle said. “We had every opportunity to cash in after the first inning. We take a lead, we give it up, but the guys just hung in there.”
Bost praised the team and its resilience on not quitting despite being down early.
“We could’ve given up when we were down 5-0, but we didn’t,” Bost said. “[We] could’ve given up when they tied it, but we didn’t. We just keep pushing on. Like [Schlossnagle] says all the time, we don’t play to a scoreboard, we play to a standard, and that’s what we kept doing. We weren’t worried about the scoreboard, we were just worried about doing us.”
The maroon and white improve to 18-11 on the season and will look to face off in a series against SEC opponent Auburn from April 6-8 in Auburn, Alabama.