Just about everyone was getting hits for No. 10 Texas A&M in its explosive 19-1 win over Long Beach State Saturday afternoon at Olsen Field.
“We just had an amazing approach all day long, one through nine, just a relentless approach for all nine innings,” A&M head coach Rob Childress said.
In the seventh inning alone, the Aggies (15-1) scored nine runs, which all came with no outs, on five hits after sending 13 batters to the plate.
Sophomore Logan Foster blasted his second home run of the day off the scoreboard in left field for a grand slam, and fellow sophomore Hunter Coleman added a two-run shot to left.
“Hitting is contagious,” A&M third baseman George Janca, who went 3-for-5, said. “Every guy who got put in the lineup today had great swings and played great defense behind our pitchers. That’s all you can ask for.”
For the day, Foster finished 3-for-4 with two home runs and seven RBI. It was the third-straight game Foster had gone yard.
“He had a special day, I mean seven RBI, just had a really good day and he’s been very consistent for us all year long,” Childress said of Foster. “It’s been fun to watch him grow and develop from an approach standpoint this year.”
Junior second baseman Michael Helman finished the day a home run shy of the cycle, going 3-for-4 with two RBI, scoring three runs of his own.
John Doxakis (W, 3-0) cruised on the mound for A&M in his first weekend start of the season. The sophomore left hander went 7.0 innings allowing one unearned run on five hits while striking out five batters.
“I wouldn’t give him a 10 on his performance today even though he only gave up one run,” Childress said of Doxakis’ start. “But he managed the game incredibly well.”
A&M busted the game open in the middle innings, posting four runs in the third while driving in two runs each in the fourth and fifth innings.
Foster highlighted the Aggies’ crooked numbers with a three-run blast over the left centerfield fence in the third inning.
“Up and down the lineup, guys were committed to our approach at the plate and the big hit happened to land in my hands,” Foster said.
Long Beach State threatened to take the lead in the top of the second after tying the game at one, but A&M right fielder Baine Schoenvogel threw out the Dirtbags’ Shaq Robinson on a sac-fly attempt to end the threat.
“I told him after I got pulled, ‘Dude, that changed the game,’” Doxakis said. “That got me pumped up, made me focus a lot more. It definitely changed the game.”
Following the second-inning scare, Doxakis only allowed two base runners in his final five innings of work.
“I was leaving it over the middle of the plate the first two innings and Childress called me over and said, ‘You’ve got to start hitting your spots or else they’re going to keep doing it,’” Doxakis said of his adjustments. “We made the commitment and started hitting our spots and it worked out.”
A&M will go for the series sweep over Long Beach State tomorrow at high noon.