After winning their opening game of the regional, A&M needed just two wins to advance to the Super Regionals. Saturday night, the Aggies had a tough fight on their hands, as they eventually fell in 14 innings to the California Golden Bears. The loss means that A&M is now on the brink of elimination going into Sunday.
“If you’re a baseball fan, it’s certainly one for the ages,” said A&M head coach Rob Childress. “Two heavy weights going at it for an awful long time. We had our shot in the first inning, had their pitcher on the ropes…thought [Long] was fantastic as well, and [Hendrix] was equally as impressive…very proud of our guys. They competed their tails off.”
The Aggie lineup started to work early on California’s talented right handed pitcher Ryan Mason. After getting two on base, Logan Taylor drove home Ryne Birk to help the Aggies attain a quick 1-0 lead.
Both teams received solid outings from their starting pitchers, as both worked well into the game, dueling it out until they were pulled from the game. It was another typical outing from Aggie ace Grayson Long, who worked 6 2/3 innings, allowing one earned run on 10 hits. He was pulled after allowing the tying run to cross the plate in the seventh inning.
California, after the long pitchers’ duel, would gain the run back in the seventh inning. A&M posted two quick outs, but the Golden Bears rallied, and finally tied the game with an RBI single to even the score 1-1.
Ryan Hendrix was given the ball in relief of Grayson Long and put in a fantastic outing. He pitched 6 2/3 innings of relief with 12 total strikeouts.
Both teams had their chances to win the game in the ninth inning, but poor execution, or good pitching, from both teams prevented any scoring, and the game went into extra innings.
Nick Banks came to the plate with one on in the 11th inning and smashed a ball to left field. California left fielder Brian Celsi made a leaping catch to rob Banks of the go-ahead home run, and the game trailed on.
A&M was presented with a chance to take the lead again in the 13th inning, but with the bases loaded, the Aggies could not drive in the go-ahead run.
In the 14th inning, California finally got the winning score, thanks to a walk off solo homer from Mitchell Kranson.
Poor execution was a theme of the game. Both teams had trouble at the plate with runners in scoring position. A&M hit 2-for-16 with runners in scoring position, while California went 1-for-12 in the same category. All in all, there were 30 total runners left on base, 17 by California and 13 by Texas A&M.
“Our guys will give it everything they’ve got tomorrow,” Childress said. “I am certain of that.”
The loss will move A&M into an elimination game on Sunday. The Aggies will get things started at 12 pm, taking on Coastal Carolina with their season on the line.
