The No. 15 Texas A&M baseball team took on the Houston Baptist Huskies in a mid-week bout and came out with the win 8-1. A&M improves to 33-13 (13-8 SEC) with the win and Houston Baptist falls to 22-18 (14-7 Southland) with the loss.
The Aggies struck first in the second inning, scoring four runs on four hits and two walks. Houston Baptist would then grab its only run of the game in the third on a pair of doubles, as the Aggies added one run in the third and fifth, and two runs in the eighth. The Aggies recorded 10 hits on the game, with half of them going for extra bases and two of those extra-base hits going over the fence for home runs.
At the plate the Aggies were led by freshman Hunter Coleman, senior Joel Davis and senior Austin Homan. Coleman went 3-3 with a home run and three runs scored, Davis went 2-4 with a home run and Homan went 2-4 with two RBIs.
“Being able to just put games together has been really big,” Davis said. “We didn’t start off too hot this season, and we’re all worried about getting better and better each day and just winning games, so it’s been great to get that feeling and we need to keep it going because we have a big series this weekend.”
On the mound, Aggie junior starting pitcher Turner Larkins led the way for A&M, tossing 5.2 innings, giving up no earned runs on just four hits while striking out three. Junior Cason Sherrod also pitched well for the Aggies, throwing 1.1 perfect innings with three strikeouts.
“I’m probably going to be a little sore tomorrow,” Larkins said. “It was good to get there, I felt pretty good today, I’ve just been working with our trainer trying to get back to full strength. We’re playing really good right now, I’d be scared if I had to face our lineup right now, I think we’re playing like one of the best teams in the country.”
Houston Baptist was led by seniors Blake Thomas and Brandon Brintz at the plate. Thomas went 2-4 with a run scored, while Brintz went 1-4 with an RBI. On the mound, the Huskies’ best performance came from junior Cody Marshall, who threw one inning and gave up one hit.
The Aggies will be back in action this weekend with a weekend series against the No. 11 Mississippi State Bulldogs. Game one is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on Thursday and will be shown on ESPNU.
