The No. 17 Texas A&M Aggies defeated the Houston Baptist Huskies, 8-2, for their fifth straight win Tuesday night on Olsen Field at Blue Bell Park.
Texas A&M (33-13) put up four runs in the second to grab control of the game early off HBU lefty Ivan Smith (0-2). The bases were juiced with one out when Austin Homan drove in a pair with a double inside the left field line. Walker Pennington drove in the third Aggie run on a double of his own before Nick Choruby’s fielder’s choice grounder staked the Aggies to a 4-0 lead.
Houston Baptist (22-18) got on the scoreboard in the third with one run off A&M starter Turner Larkins (1-1). But Joel Davis would answer back in the bottom half with his fifth homer of the season, a solo shot off Smith.
In the fifth, Hunter Coleman played long ball for the second time this season. His one-run shot gave the Aggies a 6-1.
Larkins worked into the sixth for his longest start of the season. He fanned three over 5.2 innings, allowing just the one unearned run. He was relieved by Cason Sherrod who didn’t allow a baserunner in 1.1 innings, striking out three of the four batters he faced.
The Texas A&M bats added to their lead with a two-run eighth. Blake Kopetsky’s double plated the first run while Choruby again drove in a run on a fielder’s choice.
Jason Ruffcorn and John Doxakis closed the game out working the eighth and ninth, respectively. The Huskies pushed across their second unearned run before all was said and done. The performance gave the Aggie pitching staff 40 consecutive innings without allowing an earned run dating back to their game with Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.
Coleman led the Aggies offensively, going 3-for-3 with three runs scored, two RBI and a walk. The bottom five in the Aggie order accounted for all 10 Aggies hits and all eight runs.
With the victory, the Texas A&M has won 18 of their last 22 games.
Next up, the Aggies host the Mississippi State Bulldogs for a three-game set. First pitch on Thursday is set for 6:32.
TEXAS A&M QUOTES
Head Coach Rob Childress
On the offense…
“We’ve stacked some pretty good at bats together over the last four games and hopefully that’ll continue for us over the weekend. Our guys want to be on the field and we’ll be ready to go on Thursday
The upcoming series…
“It’s no bigger than last week or no bigger than two weeks ago. It’s about going out there and playing good baseball. We put ourselves in a position to make May matter and that’s all you can ask for. We have to make Mississippi State earn everything they get. They have arguable the nation’s best player. We have to do a good job limiting his opportunities.”
Senior 1B Joel Davis
On tonight’s win…
“Being able to put games together has been really big. We didn’t start off too hot this season. We’re all just worried about getting better and better each day and just winning the day. It’s great to get that feeling and keep it going because we’ve got a big series this weekend.”
On the team’s recent success…
“I think the biggest thing that we’re doing is just worrying about ourselves and putting the blinders on and not worrying about the outside criticism. It’s easy to get caught up in everybody and what people said about us. Really just playing for each other.”
Junior RHP Turner Larkins
On the offensive performance tonight…
“Our offense has really come along these past couple of weeks. I thought they were the big thing tonight. Good approaches all night long. Coach Will (Bolt) really had them ready to go before the game.”
On Texas A&M’s winning streak…
“I’d be scared if I had to face our lineup right now. I think we’re playing like one of the best teams in the country. All we have to do now is go out and validate it every weekend.”
