Texas A&M
Wake Forest
Texas A&M Baseball
BOOM: White leads offensive surge in Aggies' 22-2 rout of Wake Forest
Regional Game #2: Texas A&M 22, Wake Forest 2
RECORDS: Texas A&M 47-14; Wake Forest 35-26
WP: Brigham Hill (9-1)
LP: Drew Loepprich (3-2)
S: None
BOX SCORE
COLLEGE STATION - Heavy rains blew through Aggieland as No. 1 Texas A&M came to bat in the second inning with the game tied at 1-1. But as it turned out, water was the least of Wake Forest starting pitcher Drew Loepprich's worries.
He was more concerned with fire.
The rain hammered Olsen Field hard but lasted only about 15 minutes. And in that exact window, the Aggies caught fire and enjoyed an offensive eruption in the middle of the storm, putting five on the board and claiming a commanding 6-1 lead en route to a 22-2 blowout in a Saturday night affair that trickled into the early hours of Sunday morning.
"I'm very proud of our team. I felt like we were very good in all facets of the game," said A&M head coach Rob Childress. "The weather was iffy to start the game and there were some long innings but I felt like we stayed focused on the mound and defensively. From an offensive standpoint, we were very impressive."
Kirby Clarke, TexAgs
Boomer White enjoyed a tremendous night at the plate, going 3-for-4 with a towering three-run homer to cap off a five-run second.
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CCR once asked, "Who'll stop the rain?" I think we got the answer on Saturday. Boomer White, SEC Player of the Year, busted out of his recent lull by going 3-for-4 with four RBI and four runs scored. His mammoth three-run home run in the second inning played "Plinko" with the scaffolding attached to the A&M Rec Center well beyond the left field wall ... giving the Aggies a five-run lead.
Almost immediately after the White bomb, the rain suddenly stopped - just as quickly as it came upon Olsen - but the Aggie bats continued to bring the fire throughout an absolute dismantling of the Demon Deacons.
"I had the table set up for me all night and all the credit in the world for the guys in front of me," White said. "I had the opportunity to come up with runners on. I anticipated a pitch in and he threw it to me, and I got the barrel to it."
"It's been a while since I've connected on one like that," White added. "It felt good and hopefully I can carry that forward."
With the win, the Aggies advance to a "win-and-move-on" game against the winner of Wake Forest vs. Minnesota Sunday at 8:00 p.m. The Demon Deacons and Golden Gophers square off Sunday afternoon at 3:00 in an elimination game.
White got the job done with his bat, glove and arm in this one. He made several across-the-diamond throws to nip runners at first base and completed a 5-3 double play to get starting pitcher Brigham Hill out of a mini jam in the third inning.
As for Hill, the A&M ace right-hander was outstanding.
"Coach told me to pretend it's just a one-run ball game and to go out there and pump strikes," Hill said. "I didn't have my best stuff tonight but the guys kept encouraging me and it's always nice to have huge run support."
It was especially big to get Hendrix back on the mound and he impressed in his hitless inning of work. The fastball was up to 96 miles-per-hour and the breaking ball was as crisp as it has been all season, especially in his strikeout of All-American Will Craig to lead off the eighth.
"He was incredibly impressive and looked like the Ryan Hendrix that we all know," Childress said. "He was 96-to-98 with his wipeout breaking ball. Moving forward, that was a big thing seeing him go out and be his old self. That's important for us moving forward."
The pitching was fantastic, but the story of the night was the Texas A&M hitting. And it's safe to say the Aggie bats were completely dialed in from the first pitch.
Hitting first in this game due to NCAA Tournament rules that makes teams alternate home-visitor assignments, the Aggies wasted no time in getting to Loepprich. Eleven of the first 12 balls put in play by A&M in the 1st two innings were squared up and on a line. And the other one was an Austin Homan double down the left field line.
A&M connected on five hard-hit balls and three hits in the first inning, scoring a run on a Michael Barash sharp single to left field. Then, during that rain-soaked and rain-making second inning, the Aggies put up a five-spot to go up, 6-1. After back-to-back hits by Hunter Melton and Homan and a J.B. Moss hit batsman loaded it up, Nick Banks delivered with an opposite-field two-run double and then White followed with the tape measure Rec Center three-run shot.
The Aggie sticks tacked on a pair of of runs in the fourth inning on an RBI single by White and a Moroney sac fly to center field that scored White from third base.
An inning later, more fireworks. And this time around, the only "rain" in sight was the pronunciation of Wake Forest reliever Rayne Supple, who opened the frame by allowing the Aggies to load the bases with no outs before giving way to Parker Johnson.
Kirby Clarke, TexAgs
The Jonathan Moroney onslaught continued on Saturday with a 2-for-4 game, including a tape-measure home run and 6 RBI.
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By the time Johnson came up for air, Texas A&M had put another six runs on the board in the fifth to take a 14-2 lead. Michael Barash and Jonathan Moroney - seniors that have continued their red hot streak into this weekend - delivered the big hits in the frame with a pair of two-run singles.
A&M emptied out the bench and inserted every position player into this game, and the hits and runs kept on coming. Five runs in the seventh inning, including a three-run home run to left center field off the bat of Moroney and a ball that may have rolled up Wellborn Road all the way to Northgate, where by that time in the night the bars were thinking about closing time.
A&M tacked on another run in the eight and two more in the ninth to close out a 20-run victory.
All told, A&M's 22 runs came on 22 hits including eight extra-base hits and two home runs. Homan enjoyed a four-hit night, going 4-for-7 with an RBI and two runs scored. White and Ryne Birk each had three hits in the game and Birk added two doubles, an RBI and three runs scored. Moss, Barash, Moroney, Melton and then Nick Choruby and Ronnie Gideon off the bench each had a two-hit game, and Moroney drove in six runs. Banks had just one hit but he also had arguably the biggest hit of the game in a 1-for-7 outing and drove home three runs.
To even further illustrate how dominant the bats were, consider that A&M hit .400 with two outs, .500 with runners on base and .440 with runners in scoring position. Oh yeah, and they did it against an ACC team. Sure, Wake is very thin in the pitching department but the ACC is the only league in the country that rivals the SEC in college baseball and this was the most lopsided defeat an ACC has ever taken in an NCAA Tournament game.
The 22 runs posted by A&M is just three runs shy of the school record for runs scored in an NCAA Tournament game. That happened in the 1989 College Station Regional, when the Aggies posted 25 runs in a 25-4 win over BYU.
But as Childress pointed out after the game, you can't carry over all of that run production into Sunday and still have to show up and complete the task at hand.
"The scoreboard will be 0-0 tomorrow night at 8-o-clock," Childress said. "Let's make sure we show up ready to go with the same mindset that we had tonight."
A Little Extra
* Player of the game: Boomer White. The A&M junior is back in a big way and enjoyed quite a night at the ball yard. White went 3-for-4 at the plate with the big home run to left that I'm not sure has landed yet. Literally. It's still probably sitting on part of the scaffolding connected to the Rec Center in deep left field. Boomer also got it done with the glove and the arm, including a beautiful 5-3 double play. White has a swing that doesn't allow for extended slumps and he is once again swinging a hot bat. That is a dangerous proposition for opposing teams. How do you deal with this lineup
* Key moment: Nick Banks' double in the second inning. Until that swing, the Aggies held a 1-0 lead despite squaring up balls left and right to that point. And after leaving 12 runners on base in the win over Binghamton on Friday, A&M needed a big hit to open up the flood gates. And that's exactly what happened. Boomer followed Banks' double with his big shot into Bryan and it was on from there.
* Best defensive play: Not that it matters in a blowout win like this, but I'm going to give it to Boomer White. The A&M third baseman made a nice grab at third base right on the line, raced to the bag to get a force at third and fired a bullet to Melton at first to get out of a little semi jam and end the third inning ... preserving what was at the time a 6-1 lead.
* Got hot: Hunter Melton. It was great to see the A&M senior enjoy a two-hit night and square up a couple of balls. His approach was very good, for the most part. And I think what we saw on Saturday and will see over the next week or so is a rejuvenated Melton now that he does not have to face elite-level SEC pitching game-in, game-out.
* Stayed hot: Jonathan Moroney and Austin Homan. Moroney went 2-for-4 with a home run and six RBI. Homan went 4-for-7 from the nine-hole to continued his white hot production at the plate.
* Great to see: Ryan Hendrix enter the game and have success. He was filthy in striking out Craig and making him look silly with a pair of wipeout breaking balls and a high-90s fastball that finished him off. I still get the feeling that A&M is going to need him to deliver in a critical moment at some point in June. But he hasn't thrown in quite a while and threw zero pitches in Hoover at the SEC Tournament. I hope Childress sees a chance to get him the ball again this weekend and continue to develop more and more confidence and momentum heading further down the road in this tournament.
* Bravo: If someone asks, "What makes A&M so special?" Tell them about that night 2,000 fans stayed to the end way after midnight in a 22-2 blowout. The announced crowd was 5,865 and a ton of Aggies stayed until the last out was made ... somewhere in the neighborhood of 1:00 a.m. on Sunday morning. This place is very, very special. Support like tonight is why I hope to never leave. It reminds me of how unique Aggieland truly is. Bravo, Aggies. Bravo.
* Looking ahead: The Aggies are one win away from advancing to the Super Regional round of the NCAA Tournament for the second straight season. Who will take the ball is a bit of a mystery but I suspect it will be sophomore right-hander Turner Larkins over fellow sophomore righty Jace Vines. I suspect all hands are on deck and will be available out of the bullpen so the Aggies are in great shape following whomever Childress decides to start the Sunday night contest.
RECORDS: Texas A&M 47-14; Wake Forest 35-26
WP: Brigham Hill (9-1)
LP: Drew Loepprich (3-2)
S: None
BOX SCORE
COLLEGE STATION - Heavy rains blew through Aggieland as No. 1 Texas A&M came to bat in the second inning with the game tied at 1-1. But as it turned out, water was the least of Wake Forest starting pitcher Drew Loepprich's worries.
He was more concerned with fire.
The rain hammered Olsen Field hard but lasted only about 15 minutes. And in that exact window, the Aggies caught fire and enjoyed an offensive eruption in the middle of the storm, putting five on the board and claiming a commanding 6-1 lead en route to a 22-2 blowout in a Saturday night affair that trickled into the early hours of Sunday morning.
"I'm very proud of our team. I felt like we were very good in all facets of the game," said A&M head coach Rob Childress. "The weather was iffy to start the game and there were some long innings but I felt like we stayed focused on the mound and defensively. From an offensive standpoint, we were very impressive."
Kirby Clarke, TexAgs
Boomer White enjoyed a tremendous night at the plate, going 3-for-4 with a towering three-run homer to cap off a five-run second.
{"Module":"photo","Alignment":"right","Size":"large","Caption":"Boomer White enjoyed a tremendous night at the plate, going 3-for-4 with a towering three-run homer to cap off a five-run second.","MediaItemID":71952}
Almost immediately after the White bomb, the rain suddenly stopped - just as quickly as it came upon Olsen - but the Aggie bats continued to bring the fire throughout an absolute dismantling of the Demon Deacons.
"I had the table set up for me all night and all the credit in the world for the guys in front of me," White said. "I had the opportunity to come up with runners on. I anticipated a pitch in and he threw it to me, and I got the barrel to it."
"It's been a while since I've connected on one like that," White added. "It felt good and hopefully I can carry that forward."
With the win, the Aggies advance to a "win-and-move-on" game against the winner of Wake Forest vs. Minnesota Sunday at 8:00 p.m. The Demon Deacons and Golden Gophers square off Sunday afternoon at 3:00 in an elimination game.
White got the job done with his bat, glove and arm in this one. He made several across-the-diamond throws to nip runners at first base and completed a 5-3 double play to get starting pitcher Brigham Hill out of a mini jam in the third inning.
As for Hill, the A&M ace right-hander was outstanding.
"Coach told me to pretend it's just a one-run ball game and to go out there and pump strikes," Hill said. "I didn't have my best stuff tonight but the guys kept encouraging me and it's always nice to have huge run support."
He was incredibly impressive and looked like the Ryan Hendrix that we all know. He was 96-to-98 with his wipeout breaking ball. Moving forward, that was a big thing seeing him go out and be his old self. That's important for us moving forward.
{"Module":"quote","Alignment":"left","Quote":"He was incredibly impressive and looked like the Ryan Hendrix that we all know,\" Childress said. \"He was 96-to-98 with his wipeout breaking ball. Moving forward, that was a big thing seeing him go out and be his old self. That\u0027s important for us moving forward.","Author":"A\u0026M HC Rob Childress"}
Hill got it done on the mound, and in the process, preserved the Aggie bullpen for Sunday. He gave the Aggies six strong innings, allowing two runs on five hits with four walks and 10 strikeouts. Stephen Kolek, Ryan Hendrix and Corbin Martin each worked one shutout inning in relief of hill, allowing a combined one hit and one walk, with four strikeouts.It was especially big to get Hendrix back on the mound and he impressed in his hitless inning of work. The fastball was up to 96 miles-per-hour and the breaking ball was as crisp as it has been all season, especially in his strikeout of All-American Will Craig to lead off the eighth.
"He was incredibly impressive and looked like the Ryan Hendrix that we all know," Childress said. "He was 96-to-98 with his wipeout breaking ball. Moving forward, that was a big thing seeing him go out and be his old self. That's important for us moving forward."
The pitching was fantastic, but the story of the night was the Texas A&M hitting. And it's safe to say the Aggie bats were completely dialed in from the first pitch.
Hitting first in this game due to NCAA Tournament rules that makes teams alternate home-visitor assignments, the Aggies wasted no time in getting to Loepprich. Eleven of the first 12 balls put in play by A&M in the 1st two innings were squared up and on a line. And the other one was an Austin Homan double down the left field line.
A&M connected on five hard-hit balls and three hits in the first inning, scoring a run on a Michael Barash sharp single to left field. Then, during that rain-soaked and rain-making second inning, the Aggies put up a five-spot to go up, 6-1. After back-to-back hits by Hunter Melton and Homan and a J.B. Moss hit batsman loaded it up, Nick Banks delivered with an opposite-field two-run double and then White followed with the tape measure Rec Center three-run shot.
The Aggie sticks tacked on a pair of of runs in the fourth inning on an RBI single by White and a Moroney sac fly to center field that scored White from third base.
An inning later, more fireworks. And this time around, the only "rain" in sight was the pronunciation of Wake Forest reliever Rayne Supple, who opened the frame by allowing the Aggies to load the bases with no outs before giving way to Parker Johnson.
Kirby Clarke, TexAgs
The Jonathan Moroney onslaught continued on Saturday with a 2-for-4 game, including a tape-measure home run and 6 RBI.
{"Module":"photo","Alignment":"left","Size":"large","Caption":"The Jonathan Moroney onslaught continued on Saturday with a 2-for-4 game, including a tape-measure home run and 6 RBI.","MediaItemID":71924}
A&M emptied out the bench and inserted every position player into this game, and the hits and runs kept on coming. Five runs in the seventh inning, including a three-run home run to left center field off the bat of Moroney and a ball that may have rolled up Wellborn Road all the way to Northgate, where by that time in the night the bars were thinking about closing time.
A&M tacked on another run in the eight and two more in the ninth to close out a 20-run victory.
All told, A&M's 22 runs came on 22 hits including eight extra-base hits and two home runs. Homan enjoyed a four-hit night, going 4-for-7 with an RBI and two runs scored. White and Ryne Birk each had three hits in the game and Birk added two doubles, an RBI and three runs scored. Moss, Barash, Moroney, Melton and then Nick Choruby and Ronnie Gideon off the bench each had a two-hit game, and Moroney drove in six runs. Banks had just one hit but he also had arguably the biggest hit of the game in a 1-for-7 outing and drove home three runs.
To even further illustrate how dominant the bats were, consider that A&M hit .400 with two outs, .500 with runners on base and .440 with runners in scoring position. Oh yeah, and they did it against an ACC team. Sure, Wake is very thin in the pitching department but the ACC is the only league in the country that rivals the SEC in college baseball and this was the most lopsided defeat an ACC has ever taken in an NCAA Tournament game.
The 22 runs posted by A&M is just three runs shy of the school record for runs scored in an NCAA Tournament game. That happened in the 1989 College Station Regional, when the Aggies posted 25 runs in a 25-4 win over BYU.
But as Childress pointed out after the game, you can't carry over all of that run production into Sunday and still have to show up and complete the task at hand.
"The scoreboard will be 0-0 tomorrow night at 8-o-clock," Childress said. "Let's make sure we show up ready to go with the same mindset that we had tonight."
A Little Extra
* Player of the game: Boomer White. The A&M junior is back in a big way and enjoyed quite a night at the ball yard. White went 3-for-4 at the plate with the big home run to left that I'm not sure has landed yet. Literally. It's still probably sitting on part of the scaffolding connected to the Rec Center in deep left field. Boomer also got it done with the glove and the arm, including a beautiful 5-3 double play. White has a swing that doesn't allow for extended slumps and he is once again swinging a hot bat. That is a dangerous proposition for opposing teams. How do you deal with this lineup
* Key moment: Nick Banks' double in the second inning. Until that swing, the Aggies held a 1-0 lead despite squaring up balls left and right to that point. And after leaving 12 runners on base in the win over Binghamton on Friday, A&M needed a big hit to open up the flood gates. And that's exactly what happened. Boomer followed Banks' double with his big shot into Bryan and it was on from there.
* Best defensive play: Not that it matters in a blowout win like this, but I'm going to give it to Boomer White. The A&M third baseman made a nice grab at third base right on the line, raced to the bag to get a force at third and fired a bullet to Melton at first to get out of a little semi jam and end the third inning ... preserving what was at the time a 6-1 lead.
* Got hot: Hunter Melton. It was great to see the A&M senior enjoy a two-hit night and square up a couple of balls. His approach was very good, for the most part. And I think what we saw on Saturday and will see over the next week or so is a rejuvenated Melton now that he does not have to face elite-level SEC pitching game-in, game-out.
* Stayed hot: Jonathan Moroney and Austin Homan. Moroney went 2-for-4 with a home run and six RBI. Homan went 4-for-7 from the nine-hole to continued his white hot production at the plate.
* Great to see: Ryan Hendrix enter the game and have success. He was filthy in striking out Craig and making him look silly with a pair of wipeout breaking balls and a high-90s fastball that finished him off. I still get the feeling that A&M is going to need him to deliver in a critical moment at some point in June. But he hasn't thrown in quite a while and threw zero pitches in Hoover at the SEC Tournament. I hope Childress sees a chance to get him the ball again this weekend and continue to develop more and more confidence and momentum heading further down the road in this tournament.
* Bravo: If someone asks, "What makes A&M so special?" Tell them about that night 2,000 fans stayed to the end way after midnight in a 22-2 blowout. The announced crowd was 5,865 and a ton of Aggies stayed until the last out was made ... somewhere in the neighborhood of 1:00 a.m. on Sunday morning. This place is very, very special. Support like tonight is why I hope to never leave. It reminds me of how unique Aggieland truly is. Bravo, Aggies. Bravo.
* Looking ahead: The Aggies are one win away from advancing to the Super Regional round of the NCAA Tournament for the second straight season. Who will take the ball is a bit of a mystery but I suspect it will be sophomore right-hander Turner Larkins over fellow sophomore righty Jace Vines. I suspect all hands are on deck and will be available out of the bullpen so the Aggies are in great shape following whomever Childress decides to start the Sunday night contest.
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