Solid pitching, power hitting and a strong defense culminated into a strong season opening three-game sweep of Hofstra University this weekend, following a 5-0 win Sunday afternoon.
“The team played great,” junior transfer Joel Davis said. “Even when we were struggling, everyone stepped up. It was a good team win this weekend.”
The opening game Friday set the scene for the weekend. TCU transfer Boomer White took the first pitch he saw in an Aggie uniform and blasted it for a homer. Hofstra would battle for a lead, but two RBI from Ryne Birk followed by a shutdown save from Ryan Hendrix gave A&M a 5-2 win to open the 2016 season.
Senior first baseman Hunter Melton led the Aggies to success Saturday afternoon. The senior first baseman went 5-for-5 from the plate with six RBI and two home runs. His play, combined with a Ronnie Gideon grand slam, propelled A&M to a 15-4 win.
“Very proud of our team,” A&M coach Rob Childress said. “You never know what you’re going to get until you get to play someone else. I thought we pitched at a very high level, played great defense and offensively, saw some improvements as the weekend went along.”
In his first career start, freshman Tyler Ivey pitched a full six innings, giving up two hits while allowing no runs and striking out seven Sunday. He touched the low 90s with his velocity and impressed quite a few people in his Aggie debut, including his coach.
“I could not ask for anything more,” Childress said. “[Ivey] has been as good as any freshman we’ve had in the 10 years I have been here. I thought he did a great job controlling his emotions.”
A&M (3-0) got the offense rolling early Sunday as a Gideon RBI single would put the Aggies in front 1-0 after two innings.
As Ivey continued rolling on the mound, the Aggie bats produced runs. J.B. Moss smacked an RBI double to right center and made it a 2-0 Aggie lead with four innings in the books. Moss finished 3-for-3 with two RBI.
Gideon collected his second and third RBI of the day with a two-run moon shot to straightaway center field. That extended the Aggie lead to 4-0. Gideon went 2-for-4 from the plate with three RBI. Moss drove in another run on an RBI single to make it 5-0 A&M.
“He missed his location, and I took advantage of it,” Gideon said. “I couldn’t have done it without the team stealing pitches. You can’t do anything without help from other guys doing what they can to wear the pitcher down.”
Ty Schlottmann came on to pitch one inning of relief and then Mark Ecker came in and finished off the final two frames. Combined, the two relievers gave up three hits and no runs while striking out three. The staff as a whole struck out 10 Pride hitters Sunday.
In the end Ivey got a pie to the face once the game ended to celebrate his showing.
“I felt good,” Ivey said. “It was nice to get my first start out of the way. I thought we played great defense and late in the game, the offense exploded, and it felt good overall.”
The Aggies will get a one day break before returning to action. They will host Stephen F. Austin and Prairie View A&M this Tuesday and Wednesday respectively.
