Blue skies, salty pretzels and the sound of a baseball hitting the leather glove of a catcher framed the ingredients to a successful evening for baseball fans.
An impressive start from a 6-foot-4 transfer from Texas Tech and the first of many home runs from a Houston native made the experience a little more memorable for the attendees of Olsen Field at Blue Bell Park.
Texas A&M baseball won its second game of its three-game series against Fordham 5-3 on Saturday, Feb. 19. As a team, the Aggies accumulated nine hits, four RBI’s and 10 strikeouts total.
After a slow start from the bats in the first three innings, sophomore third baseman Trevor Werner decided to be the spark the Aggies needed. Bottom of the fourth, no outs and Kodak Black’s “Twenty 8” blaring in the speakers.
The count even at one, Fordham’s starting pitcher Brooks Ey winded up and released the pitch.
Gone.
Werner sent the pitch 410-feet deep into left center field for the Aggies’ second run of the game and their first home run of the season.
“Fastball, middle up,” Werner said. “It was the pitch I was looking for, and I did my damage on it.”
The bats continued to fly for A&M in the fourth as sophomore shortstop Kalae Harrison hit one down the third base line for a double, graduate catcher Troy Claunch hit a single and graduate outfielder Dylan Rock hit a pop fly, resulting in an RBI and a 3-0 lead for the Aggies.
Micah Dallas’ first start as an Aggie featured 6.1 innings pitched and five strikeouts, and he secured his first lineup card of the season.
“Coach [Jim] Schlossnagle just gave me the lineup card,” Dallas said. “It feels very special, and hopefully there is more to come.”
With a comfortable 5-0 lead going into the eighth inning, freshman pitcher Robert Hogan made an entrance to the game and was ready to showcase his skills in his first game in maroon and white. However, a costly throw from Hogan to first sent two Fordham runners to home plate and cut the deficit to 5-2.
“Crazy things like that happen in baseball,” Schlossnagle said. “Hogan will learn from that and, from an experience standpoint, I think it was good for him.”
Hogan ended the game with four strikeouts, the final one securing the game for the Aggies on a full count.
A&M’s final game of the three-game series will be played at Olsen Field on Sunday, Feb. 20, at 12 p.m. If the Aggies win on Sunday, it will be their first time sweeping Fordham since the 2019 season.