On a cold and windy night at Olsen Field, the No. 4 ranked Aggies managed to keep their bats and the scoreboard warm.
Aided by seven errors from SFA and consistent hitting with runners on base, A&M ran away with a 21-1 win over the Lumberjacks Tuesday night.
“Our guys took a great approach in batting practice and it carried over to the game,” A&M coach Rob Childress said. “I felt like our enthusiasm was pretty special tonight. They played loose and had fun with it.”
A&M piled the runs on during the first inning. With two on, Hunter Melton pulled an RBI single that gave the Aggies the lead. Michael Barash would get an RBI groundout then Joel Davis smacked an RBI double off the right field wall for the 3-0 A&M lead. Nick Choruby dropped a blooper into left to score one more and the Aggies led 4-0 after one frame.
The Lumberjacks responded with a run of their own in the second inning, but Jace Vines kept his composure on the mound and worked his way out of a jam.
Two more runs were added in the second and third innings, thanks to RBIs from Barash and Boomer White, to give A&M a 6-1 lead after three frames.
The wheels came off for SFA (2-3) in the fourth inning. A&M received an RBI from Barash and J.B. Moss, then two RBI each from Choruby and White made it a 12-1 A&M lead after four.
A&M (4-0) continued piling the runs on, posting three more in the third off a three-run double by freshman George Janca. The Aggies led 15-1 after five. They added five more in the sixth inning with RBI from Barash, Choruby, White, Walker Pennington and Austin Homan to take a commanding 20-1 lead into the seventh inning. Choruby added one more to make it 21-1 after seven.
“It was a lot of fun getting an opportunity like that,” Choruby said. “We have so many guys on this team that can contribute to a win, so I was just out there having fun.”
For A&M production came from all around the diamond. White went 1-for-4 with four RBI, Barash was 2-for-3 with three RBI, Choruby ended 4-for-5 with five RBI and Janca went 2-for-4 with three RBI. The lineup struck out just three times all night and they scored a run in every inning except the eighth.
Vines got the win and saw a nice first start of the season on the mound. The sophomore righty hurled five innings, allowing just one run on three hits while fanning seven Lumberjack hitters. Andrew Vinson and Mitchell Kilkenny finished the game off, allowing no hits while striking out five. In total, the pitching staff struck out 12.
“Our offense was on fire tonight. I mean, 21 runs and 20 hits, it is really easy to pitch with them on your team,” Vines said. “Pitching gets the team where all the momentum is in our dugout and I am just trying to get us back in the batter’s box”
At the plate, A&M outhit SFA by a 20 to 3 margin. The Aggies were 16-for-37 with runners on, 12-for-25 with runners in scoring position and 7-for-16 when hitting with two outs. Of the 21 runs scored by A&M, 15 of them were unearned thanks to the seven SFA miscues and A&M scored a run in every inning except for one.
The win is A&M’s 34th consecutive regular season non-conference win and 19th straight mid-week victory. They will finish their midweek slate against Prairie View A&M Wednesday evening. First pitch is scheduled to start at 6:35 p.m.
