Rob Childress
Logan Nottebrok
Texas A&M Baseball
Ags fall short in their series bid against South Carolina, 8-7
GAME #51: South Carolina 8, Texas A&M 7
RECORDS: South Carolina 30-21 (12-15), Texas A&M 42-9 (17-9)
WP: Josh Reagan (2-2)
LP: Kyle Simonds (3-2)
Save: Brandon Muray
BOX SCORE
They say chicks dig the long ball.
After ten homeruns on the weekend, A&M players may not have any problems winning over a date.
However, when A&M came up one run short in Sunday’s finale, 8-7, the bombs weren’t enough to win the series.
After yesterday, you had to wonder whether either team had any punches left to throw.
South Carolina answered that question both quickly and emphatically in the first inning.
After a leadoff single, a chopped ground ball to short was charge by Blake Allemand. When the senior mishandled it, the Gamecocks had runners on first and second. Both scored three pitchers later as Kyle Martin lined a homerun over the right field wall.
While starter Kyle Simonds only made it one inning, Brigham Hill filled his place and quieted things down over the next few innings. He owes much of his success over that period to a beautiful 3-6-1 double play in the third inning after two opening singles.
Matt Sachs, TexAgs
Nick Banks lone hit of the day was a big triple that led to an eighth inning run
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A strikeout took the game into the bottom of the inning with South Carolina holding a 3-0 lead.
With it being senior day at Olsen, it was only appropriate that a senior got things started for the Ags. That’s exactly what happened in the third as Blake Allemand blasted a solo homerun over the right field fence.
From there, A&M continued to chip away at the 3-1 lead.
Nick Banks began the fourth with a walk. He moved 180 feet after consecutive wild pitches and was in position to bring the Ags within a run. One out later, Logan Nottebrok brought him in with a groundout to second.
3-2 was as close as A&M would get, for a while.
During the next inning, in a span of four hitters, South Carolina scored two runs.
A line drive to right field was misplayed, as Banks never got turned the correct way. The result was a stand up double for Max Schrock, who scored two pitches later on a single up the middle, opening their advantage up to 4-2
In the rest of the inning, the Gamecocks scores three runs. One came via an RBI single, one a double down the left field line and sandwiched in between was a mental error an the Ags.
With one and out runners on first and third, Mitchell Nau, filling in for Michael Barash, fired down to second after a pitch in the dirt. The runner was safe and the man from third beat the throw home.
During that inning, A&M changed pitchers twice, going from Hill to Turner Larkins and finally Ty Schlottmann. It added up to a 7-2 deficit when the dust settled. The Aggies were behind the eight ball from the start and A&M coach Rob Childress knew it.
“When you have to go the bullpen in the first inning, you’re going to have to be pretty good to give yourself a chance and we certainly were.”
TexAgs
Blake Allemand started the Aggie scoring with a solo homer in the third
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With their backs against the wall after South Carolina added another run in the sixth, A&M came out swinging down 8-2.
A leadoff walk from Banks was followed up with a pinch hit walk from G.R. Hinsley, bringing up Logan Nottebrok.
He later called the three run bullet over the left field wall a ‘Confidence builder’ and Notte’s bomb certainly gave life to the crowd in Olsen. As he crossed home plate, he looked at Jonathan Moroney and said, “If you take your bat to the right center gap, you’re going to hit a homerun.”
Moroney followed orders perfectly and brought A&M within two as his solo homerun made things 8-6 in Carolina’s favor.
Andrew Vinson shut the Gamecocks out in the final three frames and gave the Ags a comeback chance. Nottebrok talked about the reliever’s impact following the game.
“Vinny goes out every day and does what he needs to do,” He continued. “He’s a bulldog out there. He comes out and shoves it down the other teams throat.”
While the Aggies mustered a run in the eighth inning on a Nick Choruby RBI, they needed to bring home a runner 90 feet away in the final frame with the 8-7 score.
When Ryne Birk got stranded at third, the Ags had dropped their third series in four tries and Childress knew why.
“When it’s an offensive weekend, both teams are going to score and both teams are feeling good. It comes down to the free base runners.” He said in reference to his defense. “We certainly gave them more than they gave us on the weekend.”
Even with all the mistakes, A&M was in the position and the mindset to win the series until the end.
“I always feel like I’m going to win until you come take that last out from me.” Said Childress. “Our guys do too.”
And despite giving up 31 runs in the three games, they almost pulled it off.
RECORDS: South Carolina 30-21 (12-15), Texas A&M 42-9 (17-9)
WP: Josh Reagan (2-2)
LP: Kyle Simonds (3-2)
Save: Brandon Muray
BOX SCORE
They say chicks dig the long ball.
After ten homeruns on the weekend, A&M players may not have any problems winning over a date.
However, when A&M came up one run short in Sunday’s finale, 8-7, the bombs weren’t enough to win the series.
After yesterday, you had to wonder whether either team had any punches left to throw.
South Carolina answered that question both quickly and emphatically in the first inning.
After a leadoff single, a chopped ground ball to short was charge by Blake Allemand. When the senior mishandled it, the Gamecocks had runners on first and second. Both scored three pitchers later as Kyle Martin lined a homerun over the right field wall.
While starter Kyle Simonds only made it one inning, Brigham Hill filled his place and quieted things down over the next few innings. He owes much of his success over that period to a beautiful 3-6-1 double play in the third inning after two opening singles.
Matt Sachs, TexAgs
Nick Banks lone hit of the day was a big triple that led to an eighth inning run
{"Module":"photo","Alignment":"right","Size":"large","Caption":"Nick Banks lone hit of the day was a big triple that led to an eighth inning run","MediaItemID":55193}
With it being senior day at Olsen, it was only appropriate that a senior got things started for the Ags. That’s exactly what happened in the third as Blake Allemand blasted a solo homerun over the right field fence.
From there, A&M continued to chip away at the 3-1 lead.
Nick Banks began the fourth with a walk. He moved 180 feet after consecutive wild pitches and was in position to bring the Ags within a run. One out later, Logan Nottebrok brought him in with a groundout to second.
3-2 was as close as A&M would get, for a while.
During the next inning, in a span of four hitters, South Carolina scored two runs.
A line drive to right field was misplayed, as Banks never got turned the correct way. The result was a stand up double for Max Schrock, who scored two pitches later on a single up the middle, opening their advantage up to 4-2
In the rest of the inning, the Gamecocks scores three runs. One came via an RBI single, one a double down the left field line and sandwiched in between was a mental error an the Ags.
With one and out runners on first and third, Mitchell Nau, filling in for Michael Barash, fired down to second after a pitch in the dirt. The runner was safe and the man from third beat the throw home.
During that inning, A&M changed pitchers twice, going from Hill to Turner Larkins and finally Ty Schlottmann. It added up to a 7-2 deficit when the dust settled. The Aggies were behind the eight ball from the start and A&M coach Rob Childress knew it.
“When you have to go the bullpen in the first inning, you’re going to have to be pretty good to give yourself a chance and we certainly were.”
TexAgs
Blake Allemand started the Aggie scoring with a solo homer in the third
{"Module":"photo","Alignment":"left","Size":"large","Caption":"Blake Allemand started the Aggie scoring with a solo homer in the third","MediaItemID":53599}
A leadoff walk from Banks was followed up with a pinch hit walk from G.R. Hinsley, bringing up Logan Nottebrok.
He later called the three run bullet over the left field wall a ‘Confidence builder’ and Notte’s bomb certainly gave life to the crowd in Olsen. As he crossed home plate, he looked at Jonathan Moroney and said, “If you take your bat to the right center gap, you’re going to hit a homerun.”
Moroney followed orders perfectly and brought A&M within two as his solo homerun made things 8-6 in Carolina’s favor.
Andrew Vinson shut the Gamecocks out in the final three frames and gave the Ags a comeback chance. Nottebrok talked about the reliever’s impact following the game.
“Vinny goes out every day and does what he needs to do,” He continued. “He’s a bulldog out there. He comes out and shoves it down the other teams throat.”
While the Aggies mustered a run in the eighth inning on a Nick Choruby RBI, they needed to bring home a runner 90 feet away in the final frame with the 8-7 score.
When Ryne Birk got stranded at third, the Ags had dropped their third series in four tries and Childress knew why.
“When it’s an offensive weekend, both teams are going to score and both teams are feeling good. It comes down to the free base runners.” He said in reference to his defense. “We certainly gave them more than they gave us on the weekend.”
Even with all the mistakes, A&M was in the position and the mindset to win the series until the end.
“I always feel like I’m going to win until you come take that last out from me.” Said Childress. “Our guys do too.”
And despite giving up 31 runs in the three games, they almost pulled it off.
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