A&M shines in 6-1 Sunday win, collects series sweep of Auburn

GAME #21: Texas A&M 6, Auburn 1
RECORDS: Texas A&M 21-0 (3-0); Auburn 13-7 (0-3)
WP:  Turner Larkins (2-0)
LP:  Trey Wingenter (1-1)
Box score: Link

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This Aggie baseball team has dealt with every card they’ve been dealed so far this season, especially in their pitching rotation, on their way to 20 wins.

In Sunday’s 6-1 triumph over Auburn, they shuffled the deck again and up came Turner Larkins. The Aggies hit behind him and were able to stay perfect on their way to an undefeated 21-win start.

It was a battle early, as both pitchers were flying through the order without giving up anything substantial until the fifth inning.

Auburn right fielder Sam Gilikin led off the inning by putting a solo home run over the right field wall and giving his Tigers the early lead for the third consecutive day.
 
The Aggies, as they have all series, responded strongly to the deficit they were facing.

J.B. Moss, who got the start at center, took a single into right center field to lead off the sixth. Blake Allemand and Moss collaborated on a wonderfully executed hit and run, with Allemand taking a single to left field and putting runners on the corners with no outs.

A&M would quickly tie things up as Ryne Birk dropped a single just in front of the left fielder to score Moss from third. Things didn’t stay knotted up for long as Mitchell Nau battled at the plate and eventually went with an outside pitch and took it down the first baseline. A previous wild pitch had moved the runners up 90 feet, which allowed the well-struck ball to score two runs before Nau was caught being greedy at second.

The scoring barrage in the sixth was not yet done for the Aggies.

Nick Banks singled to center and then the sixth hit in a row, this one a stand up double from Logan Taylor, brought Banks around. All in all, A&M came into the sixth having trouble with Auburn’s Sunday starter Trey Wingenter and ended up scoring four runs, knocking Wingerter from the game in the process.  Mitchell Nau talked about the performance Auburn’s starter put up and how the Aggies responded to it.

“Gotta give him credit, he was on his game. He kept the ball down and it took us a while to get our bats back where they needed to be.” Nau said. “There was no panic. There’s a belief in our dugout that we’re going to win every game.”

The A&M offense is in full force, but without the stellar performances they’ve received up and down the pitching rotation, their record could look a lot different. Different days have seen different arms step up. Today was more of the same.

The man on the Bump for A&M on Sunday, freshman Turner Larkins, made his debut in the weekend rotation and did so in sterling fashion. All told, Larkins went 6.1 innings, gave up just four hits and one run, while striking out seven and issuing no walks. After falling behind early, the young gun had faith in the offense that had only collected one hit in the first five innings.

“I knew it was just a matter of time. I wasn’t too worried about it.” Larkins said of his offense’s early performance. “Our hitters usually get together in the dugout if they aren’t hitting well and they’ll come out firing. They’re good.”

They’re good in the midweek. They’re good playing ahead and behind.  In the eighth inning they were extremely good with two outs on their way to a couple insurance runs.

Two quick groundouts brought Hunter Melton to the plate. After both he and Ronnie Gideon singled to put runners on first and second, 0-3 Michael Barash settled in. He made his sole hit of the afternoon a memorable one as he pounded the wall in left field, scoring two and giving closer Mark Ecker even more room to work.

Ecker got three quick outs and just like that, the Aggies had their first conference sweep of the season. Coach Rob Childress felt like Sunday was a crucial step for his guys going forward.

“It is important. We always talk about Sunday being championship Sunday across the country. Everyone is either trying to sweep, avoid getting swept or win a series. It’s important to come out and play well on Sundays and I’m proud of our guys for being ready.”

The Aggies are back in action Tuesday when Prairie View A&M comes to Olsen for a one game stint. First pitch is set for 6:35