One night after seeing Olsen magic on full display for Texas A&M, luck ran out for the Aggies as late game troubles on the mound and a dry spell at the plate led to Kentucky taking Game 2 of the series 7-3 on Friday, April 8.
A&M freshman Ryan Prager got the start on the mound, but faced some early issues as the Wildcats were able to get four batters to round home plate in the first three innings.
Freshman righty Chris Cortez came in to relieve Prager in the top of the third in one of the strongest performances of his young career. The Las Vegas native pitched 4.2 innings, racking up a total of six Ks and zero runs during his tenure on the mound. When asked about his successful night, Cortez credited his ability to implement new pitches as a reason he was able to get hot.
“In the past, people would just sit fastball because I did not really have anything,” Cortez said. “So executing the slider helped me make the batter second guess themselves.”
The Aggie bats came alive during the fifth and sixth innings, as sophomores Jack Moss and Ryan Targac were each able to hit RBIs leading to a 4-3 ballgame. Moss had one of the strongest nights at the plate for A&M, going 2-for-5 on the night.
Heading into the eighth, Cortez was replaced by junior lefty Joseph Menefee. Despite strong performances in his previous two outings, Menefee immediately ran into issues on the mound as Kentucky was able to rack up three runs off three hits leading to a 7-3 game.
A&M batters froze at the plate in the final two innings, with the only hit coming in the form of a single from graduate Dylan Rock in the bottom of the ninth. The final three outs of the game came from back-to-back-to-back Aggies striking out looking, giving Kentucky a 7-3 victory and evening the series at one a piece.
A&M was unable to capitalize on scoring opportunities throughout the course of Friday’s game, as they went 1-for-15 with runners in scoring position. This will be a correction the maroon and white will look to make as they head into Game 3 against the Wildcats.
“We asked a lot of Joseph Menefee,” coach Schlossnagle said. “ He’s been great two times in a row, and he will be great again. Maybe wasn’t quite as sharp, but you got to give credit to them. I thought there were some really good things that happened in the game.”
The Aggies will look to clench the series against Kentucky on Saturday, April 9 during a Parents Weekend matchup at Blue Bell Park at 3 p.m.