Starting right-handed pitcher Christian Roa led a defensive masterpiece from No. 22 Texas A&M en route to a 7-0 shutout over No. 2 Vanderbilt, clinching the series for the Aggies at Olsen Field on Sunday.
The sophomore threw seven strikeouts, three hits and allowed two walks in seven innings pitched.
Sophomore Bryce Miller pitched the final two innings with three strikeouts of his own and allowed one hit.
“It feels great,” Roa said. “Getting out there and getting a win for the team — we just played great today. It feels amazing punching back after a Friday night loss — there’s nothing better.”
A&M head coach Rob Childress put Roa in the starting rotation Sunday after freshman Jonathan Childress went down with an injury earlier this season. Rob Childress said he was impressed with Roa’s progress on the mound.
“Just his maturity, throwing over the plate,” Childress said. “Numbers as far as logs to strike outs and hits to innings pitched are very good. He’s just really good at managing the game. He’s going to get you deep and off to a good start and allow us to keep a strength of ours, our bullpen, together.”
Offensively, the Commodores (15-5, 1-2 SEC) were only able to come up with four hits throughout the game, in addition to four errors on the playing field. A&M (17-5, 2-1 SEC) put up 11 hits and no errors.
Through the first three innings both clubs defended well from the field until Vanderbilt starting pitcher Kumar Rocker threw three consecutive pitches which led to hits off of the bats in the Aggies’ offense in the bottom of the fourth inning.
Infielder Cam Blake singled to get on base and junior shortstop Braden Shewmake followed with a triple down right field, allowing Blake to score and give A&M 1-0 lead.
Catcher Mikey Hoehner followed with an RBI groundout which allowed Shewmake to score. Shewmake said he was ready for the fastball, which he hit a triple off of, before he got to the plate.
“Our approach is to dominate fastballs,” Shewmake said. “We haven’t been doing that. We’ve been caught in between. Coach [Justin] Seely told me be ready for the heater, it’s coming right here. So that’s all I was thinking about going to the plate.”
Right fielder Jonathan Ducoff picked up a pair of RBI with a double down the left foul line that put third baseman Ty Coleman and catcher Hunter Coleman across the home plate to extend the Aggies’ lead to 4-0.
After another pair of scoreless innings from both teams, A&M made its final offensive statement of the day. Coleman singled through the right side to allow Shewmake to score again, with Hoehner standing on second base. Ducoff then singled to center field, allowing Coleman and Hoehner to cross the plate.
“I’m glad it worked out that way,” Ducoff said. “Glad we were able to get two wins. It’s funny how baseball puts you in those positions sometimes.”
Miller retired the Vanderbilt batters in the top of the eighth and closed the game out in the ninth by striking out center fielder Pat DeMarco out swinging.
A&M gets the series win 2-1 after a 7-4 loss on Friday an 8-7 walk-off win on Saturday.
The Aggies face off with Rice University Tuesday at Blue Bell Park. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. and the game will be televised on SEC Network.