The Aggie baseball team lived up to their billing in their first game as the No. 1 team in college baseball Tuesday, dominating Sam Houston State 19-4. A&M was helped by a massive 13-run third inning to run away with the game early.
“I’ve never seen anything like that in 25 years of coaching,” said A&M head coach Rob Childress about the third inning. “Thirteen hits, 11 consecutive hits — they were all hard hit too. It was fun to sit back and watch.”
The teams traded blows early. After Sam Houston State (14-17) drove in two runs during its first at-bat, A&M responded with a two-run home run from Ryne Birk to make it a 2-2 tie at the end of one frame.
The Aggies’ (28-2, 7-2 SEC) hit four home runs in the third inning alone, scoring 13 runs in the frame. Ronnie Gideon hit two homers in the inning, and Logan Nottebrok and Allemand hit the other two. The Aggies went through the lineup nearly two times, with every player tallying a hit. They had 13 hits and tied an NCAA record for most hits in a row to start an inning without an out, hitting 11 straight balls before the first out was tallied. A&M added four runs in the eighth to make it a 19-4 game.
“It was fantastic,” said a smiling Ronnie Gideon about the big inning. “It’s something that none of us have ever been a part of, I don’t think anyone has ever been part of that. To set a record like that just shows how great our offense is, and that we have the best offense.”
The Aggies will hit the road to continue SEC play Thursday, as the team travels to Lexington to take on the Kentucky Wildcats.
