Allonte Wingate was the critical piece of all three runs scored by Texas A&M in a win over Gonzaga to wrap-up the three-game series at Blue Bell Park, 3-1.
The junior infielder went 2-of-3 at the plate that included 2 hits and 3 RBIs in the second and seventh innings that put the Aggies over the top. Wingate gave all the credit to his teammates.
“It’s a huge part,” he said. “My teammates getting on base, and just being able to get the opportunity to cash runs in, actually coming through for our team is huge for me.”
The Bulldogs were the first to mark the scoreboard when infielder Ryan Sullivan hit a homerun off a 2-1 slider into left field off of starting pitcher Christian Roa in the second inning.
“It wasn’t my best pitch of the day and it wasn’t my worst pitch of the day,” Roa said about Sullivan’s home run. “He saw it out of the hand and really took a good swing on it. So, tip my hat to that guy.”
Although it would be the only run Gonzaga posted Sunday, outfielder Isaac Barrera also had a standout performance with three straight single base hits of his four total home plate appearances.
A&M responded immediately with a pair of scores off a single along the right foul line from Wingate, allowing Mikey Hoehner and Ty Coleman to score to take back the lead, 2-1.
The contest remained at 2-1 from the third through the sixth inning as both teams rotated their pitchers, with four pitchers seeing the mound for A&M and three for Gonzaga.
In his first start of the season, Roa led the way with four strikeouts, five hits and one run in 4.1 innings pitched to begin the game. Joseph Menefee, Bryce Miller and Kasey Kalich rotated in over the next five innings and the Aggies finished with eight strikeouts on the day.
“I thought [Roa] got better as his outing went along,” A&M head coach Rob Childress said. “More aggressive, working faster, he attacked the strike zone and I don’t even know if it was a mistake throwing a 2-1 slider and their guy didn’t miss it. That was the only blemish on the day all-the-way around on the mound.”
The Aggies put the game away after Coleman hit a single to get on base followed by another single RBI from Wingate to deep-center field to make it 3-1. Kalich and the Aggie defense ended the game with his only strikeout of the game.
A&M finishes 2-1 against Gonzaga on the weekend, losing the first game 6-4 but quickly bouncing back to outscore the Bulldogs 15-3 in the final two games.
The Aggies travel to face Dallas Baptist on Tuesday afternoon. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.