The No. 23 Texas A&M Aggies defeated the Rice Owls 8-5 Tuesday evening on Olsen Field at Blue Bell Park.
The Aggies got back on the winning track, in part due to the A&M bats pilling up six runs in their final four times at-bat. They trailed 3-2 heading into the fifth before a three-run frame gave them a lead they wouldn’t relinquish.
Rice took an early lead with a one-run first off Aggie starter Corbin Martin (2-2). With two outs and men on the corners, the Owls executed a double steal scoring two-hole hitter Ryan Chandler from third.
Joel Davis answered back in the bottom of the second. The senior sent his third dinger of the season way over the right field wall to even the score.
The deadlock was short lived as Rice grabbed the lead back posting a run in consecutive frames. Dane Myers singled home the run in the third and Dayne Wunderlich’s drove in the other with a sac fly off reliever John Doxakis in the 4th.
Doxakis (1-1) kept the Owls quiet for the rest of his 4.0-inning relief outing. The first-year lefty fanned four en route to his first career win.
The Aggies chipped away in the fourth loading the bases with nobody out. Davis again had the RBI, this time on sac fly to center that sent Austin Homan home.
The A&M offense captured the lead for good posting a three-run fifth. With one out, George Janca and Nick Choruby reached via consecutive singles though the left side off Rice reliever Addison Moss (0-1). Homan tied the game up on a single of his own before Shewmake’s sacrifice fly put the home team in front. Logan Foster plated the final run of the frame on a double to center.
The Aggie bats plated insurance runs in the seventh with a pair of runs. Foster and Davis added to their RBI totals with a single and double, respectively. In the eighth, Shewmake tallied his second sac fly of the game for the eighth A&M run.
Rice scored one run in the eighth and ninth off the third aggie pitcher Mitchell Kilkenny. They would put the tying run at the plate before Kilkenny recorded the final out of the game on a liner to Homan.
Davis highlighted the Texas A&M lineup going 2-for-3 and plating runs in three different innings. Homan started in the two-hole and reached four times, scoring on three occasions. Altogether, the two-through-five hitters went 8-for-13 with all eight RBI.
Next up, the Aggies hit the road for a three-game set with Vanderbilt in Nashville. First pitch from Hawkins Field on Friday is set for 6:30 p.m.
TEXAS A&M QUOTES
HEAD COACH ROB CHILDRESS
On tonight’s win…
“It was a hard fought victory. Both teams were in the same boat coming off their last week. Rice did a really good job taking a lot of pitches from Corbin but he limited the damage. Doxakis had a chance to pop in there in the fourth inning and got out of a bases loaded, no out situation and ended up only giving up one run and competed really well. I’m very proud of our seniors; they had amazing defensive plays. I think they were on base nine times tonight. I’m real proud of those guys and when we needed them the most, they stepped forward.”
On John Doxakis getting out of a jam being the turning point…
“Not just for the game, but for his season and what his talent level is and what our expectation for him is. He’s learning how to compete and I thought that was a huge step forward for him tonight. He’s learning it’s not just about going up there and throwing pitches, it’s about competing, and we did that tonight.”
SENIOR SS AUSTIN HOMAN
On the bullpen’s performance tonight…
“They did well. I thought Corbin pitched extremely well. He had some unfortunate hits but that happens. Corbin’s got some amazing stuff and playing defense behind him is fun because you get to watch some of the stuff he throws.”
On this win getting the team back on track…
“It’s a big confidence booster anytime you can get a win, especially in this league. In D1 baseball, nothing is handed to you. It’s a big confidence boost heading into Vanderbilt, it’s going to be a tough battle but I think we’re ready for it.”
FRESHMAN LHP JOHN DOXAKIS
On getting out of the jam…
“I wasn’t planning on coming in and giving up two hits and hitting a guy but Childress came out there and gave me a message that got me going. It helped a lot and he got the point across. I knew I couldn’t let those hits get to me and I knew to keep tagging the strike zone, get things to happen. Be the aggressor.”
SENIOR 1B JOEL DAVIS
On timely hits tonight…
“Our team had a lot of big-time hits tonight. Austin Homan had a big-time hit-and-run, ball elevated. We haven’t been able to really execute hits and runs this year so having Homan do that set up an inning right there. Also, Cam Blake went backside on a hard ground ball to shortstop, setting up an inning for us. It really set the tone for the inning so there were definitely a lot of big-time hits tonight.
