Rob Childress
Mitchell Nau
Texas A&M Baseball
Dominant bullpen and clutch defense put the Aggies over UTPA, 4-1
GAME #17: Texas A&M 4, UTPA 1
RECORDS: Texas A&M 17-0; UTPA 8-4
WP: Kyle Simonds (1-0)
LP: Parker Gallegos (1-1)
S: Mark Ecker (3)
Box score: Link
Returning home from a successful first road trip, A&M had to ride momentum swings and their bullpen if they were to remain undefeated.
In a 4-1 win over UTPA Tuesday night, A&M did not play their most captivating game of the season, but they got the most out of five pitchers, stayed patient at the plate and got five men on base via plunking to stay perfect.
Two singles gave the Broncs an early chance to sieze momentum, especially after a meeting on the mound when Turner Larkins fell behind 2-1 with men on first and second. Any worry of falling behind was short lived though, as Larkins and Michael Barash utilized a strike em out, throw em out double play when they caught Logan Landon straying too far from first.
That was a big momentum swing the second it happened and nobody knew that more than head coach Rob Childress.
“That was the turning point of the whole game. Turner wasn’t very sharp, but we strike a guy out and pick a guy off.” Said Childress of the timely double play. “Just like that we’re back in the dugout.”
TexAgs
Ty Schlottmann and the rest of the bullpen threw 5.2 shutout innings
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Following an opening out, A&M put four balls in play; three of them singles through the infield to get the Ags on the board. Ryne Birk started it off by pulling a 1-0 pitch just past the second baseman. He was quickly moved around to third when Mitchell Nau powered one through the left side of the dirt and rolled into second on the throw in.
A ground out to short and a third single, this one from Nick Banks, gave A&M a 2-0 lead they would never relinquish.
UTPA cut the lead to one in the fourth when Logan Landon turned another single into a trip to third after a stolen base and wild pitch. He’d make the score 2-1 on a sacrifice fly to center moments later.
That was as close as it would get.
In the bottom of the inning, Logan Taylor led off with a walk and moved into scoring position with the first balk I’ve seen this season. His next move was reminiscent of Sunday’s fourth inning as he waited on a ground ball in front of him to be thrown across the diamond before making his push to third. While Sunday’s attempt went off flawlessly, Taylor should have been out on this day.
A throw away by UTPA during the ensuing rundown allowed for Taylor to reach third safely. He extended the maroon lead after a Michal Barash sacrifice to center moved him the final 90 feet.
Matt Sachs, TexAgs
Nick Banks was able to drive in two runs on two hits
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With two outs, Mitchell Nau was hit by his second pitch of the game and made his way to first in a clearly frustrated manner. The Aggies nearly made Gallegos pay for his mistake when two walks loaded the bases.
After a pitching switch by the Broncs, Logan Taylor ripped a line drive to left for the third out.
The Aggies would load the bases once again in the seventh.
After Blake Allemand took one to the midsection and Mitchell Nau got plunked two batters later, for the third time in the contest, Hunter Melton walked to load em up. Nick Banks took the opportunity to bring in his second RBI, this one on a swinging bunt that was deep enough to freeze the first baseman.
That would give the Aggies a 4-1 lead, the eventual final score, and while they left nine men stranded and managed only four hits, but those didn’t seem to have Mitchell Nau concerned.
“It was the same story at Minute Maid. We’re striking the ball well.” He said. “You don’t get some of the hits or the breaks that you probably should have, but then the thing happens with the pickle and the baseball gods pay you back. So it ended up being a goodnight for us.”
On a night where the Aggie bats were lacking, their bullpen was superior. Something that is of the upmost importance as the status of A.J. Minter is unknown and the weekend rotation is due for a shake up. Childress talked about the upcoming order and why starting pitcher Turner Larkins was limited to a 60-pitch outing.
“We don’t want to overuse anybody. A.J. Minter is still being evaluated, but he certainly wont pitch this weekend.” Childress said of his Friday starter. “Tomorrow Brigham Hill will start, Friday we’ll throw Grayson Long, Saturday Matt Kent and Turner again on Sunday.”
All that makes things like Andrew Vinson’s current 13 inning scoreless streak a facet of this team that they will have to continue to rely on, especially as long as the hard hit balls keep finding gloves.
A&M has their final hurdle between reaching conference play undefeated when they take on UTPA for a second time tomorrow at 3:00.
RECORDS: Texas A&M 17-0; UTPA 8-4
WP: Kyle Simonds (1-0)
LP: Parker Gallegos (1-1)
S: Mark Ecker (3)
Box score: Link
Returning home from a successful first road trip, A&M had to ride momentum swings and their bullpen if they were to remain undefeated.
In a 4-1 win over UTPA Tuesday night, A&M did not play their most captivating game of the season, but they got the most out of five pitchers, stayed patient at the plate and got five men on base via plunking to stay perfect.
Two singles gave the Broncs an early chance to sieze momentum, especially after a meeting on the mound when Turner Larkins fell behind 2-1 with men on first and second. Any worry of falling behind was short lived though, as Larkins and Michael Barash utilized a strike em out, throw em out double play when they caught Logan Landon straying too far from first.
That was a big momentum swing the second it happened and nobody knew that more than head coach Rob Childress.
“That was the turning point of the whole game. Turner wasn’t very sharp, but we strike a guy out and pick a guy off.” Said Childress of the timely double play. “Just like that we’re back in the dugout.”
TexAgs
Ty Schlottmann and the rest of the bullpen threw 5.2 shutout innings
{"Module":"photo","Alignment":"right","Size":"large","Caption":"Ty Schlottmann and the rest of the bullpen threw 5.2 shutout innings","MediaItemID":53606}
A ground out to short and a third single, this one from Nick Banks, gave A&M a 2-0 lead they would never relinquish.
UTPA cut the lead to one in the fourth when Logan Landon turned another single into a trip to third after a stolen base and wild pitch. He’d make the score 2-1 on a sacrifice fly to center moments later.
That was as close as it would get.
In the bottom of the inning, Logan Taylor led off with a walk and moved into scoring position with the first balk I’ve seen this season. His next move was reminiscent of Sunday’s fourth inning as he waited on a ground ball in front of him to be thrown across the diamond before making his push to third. While Sunday’s attempt went off flawlessly, Taylor should have been out on this day.
A throw away by UTPA during the ensuing rundown allowed for Taylor to reach third safely. He extended the maroon lead after a Michal Barash sacrifice to center moved him the final 90 feet.
Matt Sachs, TexAgs
Nick Banks was able to drive in two runs on two hits
{"Module":"photo","Alignment":"left","Size":"large","Caption":"Nick Banks was able to drive in two runs on two hits","MediaItemID":54342}
After a pitching switch by the Broncs, Logan Taylor ripped a line drive to left for the third out.
The Aggies would load the bases once again in the seventh.
After Blake Allemand took one to the midsection and Mitchell Nau got plunked two batters later, for the third time in the contest, Hunter Melton walked to load em up. Nick Banks took the opportunity to bring in his second RBI, this one on a swinging bunt that was deep enough to freeze the first baseman.
That would give the Aggies a 4-1 lead, the eventual final score, and while they left nine men stranded and managed only four hits, but those didn’t seem to have Mitchell Nau concerned.
“It was the same story at Minute Maid. We’re striking the ball well.” He said. “You don’t get some of the hits or the breaks that you probably should have, but then the thing happens with the pickle and the baseball gods pay you back. So it ended up being a goodnight for us.”
On a night where the Aggie bats were lacking, their bullpen was superior. Something that is of the upmost importance as the status of A.J. Minter is unknown and the weekend rotation is due for a shake up. Childress talked about the upcoming order and why starting pitcher Turner Larkins was limited to a 60-pitch outing.
“We don’t want to overuse anybody. A.J. Minter is still being evaluated, but he certainly wont pitch this weekend.” Childress said of his Friday starter. “Tomorrow Brigham Hill will start, Friday we’ll throw Grayson Long, Saturday Matt Kent and Turner again on Sunday.”
All that makes things like Andrew Vinson’s current 13 inning scoreless streak a facet of this team that they will have to continue to rely on, especially as long as the hard hit balls keep finding gloves.
A&M has their final hurdle between reaching conference play undefeated when they take on UTPA for a second time tomorrow at 3:00.
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