In the second game of their season-opening series, right-handed pitcher Christian Roa finished with a career-high 12 strikeouts as the No. 21 Texas A&M baseball team dominated the Miami of Ohio Redhawks, winning 9-2 Saturday afternoon at Olsen Field.
With the victory, the Aggies have a chance to sweep their opening weekend series, something the team has not done since 2013. For the Redhawks, an 0-2 start to their season is the team’s worst since 2017, when they lost their first seven games to open the season.
“I’m very proud of our guys,” A&M coach Rob Childress said. “Last night, we scored 17 runs, and one would think they came easy, but they were not. Scoring runs at this level is awful hard. I thought our guys showed up with an incredible approach. [Pitcher Tyler Boggs] did a really nice job. We grinded out lots of at-bats, and we finally capitalized in the fifth and sixth innings. Two outs, nobody on, and they’re one out away from getting off the field in a tie game. They were just relentless with two outs, grabbing that lead and winning the fifth, sixth, and seventh innings.”
In his trips to the mound, Roa excelled against the RedHawks, dominating the RedHawks offense with a career-high 12 strikeouts in six innings. With Roa’s poise on the mound, only surrendering three hits and two earned runs off of solo home runs, the Aggies were able to stay ahead of the RedHawks despite a slow offensive start. Roa’s best work came during the tops of both the third and six innings when, with the score tied, Roa struck out the entire side, finishing both innings with less than 15 pitches thrown.
Childress said Roa performed at an A-plus level from the mound against Miami of Ohio.
“He was on attack from the first pitch until his last pitch,” Childress said. “He could have easily gone back out for the seventh inning. He and Hunter [Coleman] worked really well together. They worked fast, and used a four-pitch mix. You got to give him an A-plus because he was special today.”
Similar to Friday’s game against Miami of Ohio, Childress replaced Roa with a series of relievers. Left-handed pitcher Dustin Saenz allowed no hits in the top of the seventh, while Joseph Menefee got the team out of a bases loaded situation. Right-handed pitcher Jake Nelson finished the game with a no-hit ninth inning, ending the game on a flyout to left field.
The Aggies’ offense, led by new hitting coach Chad Caillet, continued to shine in its second contest. After scoring 17 runs off of 15 hits in their first game against Miami of Ohio, A&M finished with a strong offensive output against the RedHawks, totaling 15 hits for nine runs in their victory in game two.
At the start of the game, third baseman Logan Sartori put the Aggies on the scoreboard early with a solo-homerun in the first inning. Down 1-0, Miami answered in the next inning, tying the game with a homerun by second baseman Will Vogelgesang in the top of the second inning.
In the third inning, the Aggies had the bases loaded with two outs, before a wild pitch by Miami of Ohio drove in designated hitter Will Frizzell from third base, allowing the Aggies to retake the lead. At the top of the fourth, the Redhawks responded, as a leadoff home run by Miami’s Landon Stephens evened the score heading into the bottom of the fourth inning.
With neither team scoring in their next plate appearances, the Aggies pounced on the opportunity to retake the lead in the bottom of the fifth. With two outs and a man on first base, centerfielder Ray Alejo hit a double into centerfield that allowed Zach DeLoach to score from first base, giving the Aggies the lead once more. One batter later, a single by shortstop Trevor Werner drove in Alejo from third base as the Aggies doubled their lead over Miami. With two outs in the sixth inning, a homerun to deep right center by Frizzell extended the Aggie lead to three runs, before a single by first baseman Zane Schmidt brought in catcher Hunter Coleman from third base to build a four-run advantage.
Holding the lead in the bottom of the seventh, the Aggies scored two runs with the bases loaded, first on a wild pitch by Miami’s Jacob Webb and then off of a fielder’s choice. Up 8-2, a sacrifice fly by DeLoach brought in leftfielder Cam Blake for the ninth and final run of the game. The Aggies finished with seven runs and seven hits during the fifth, sixth and seventh innings of the game.
The Aggies will finish their three-game weekend series against Miami of Ohio on Sunday, with the first pitch of game three set for noon. The game will be streamable on the SEC Network.