Aggie Baseball blasts No. 11 Mississippi State in series opener, 9-2

Game # 47: Texas A&M 9, Mississippi State 2


To say the Texas A&M baseball team struggled upon entering SEC play this season would be an understatement. The Aggies limped out of the gate to an 0-5 conference record. They started winning – and winning a lot – after the slow start, but the victories were often low-scoring and tense throughout.

Now the Aggies are making it look easy.

Welcoming No. 11 Mississippi State to town, the fifteenth-ranked Aggies showed off their offensive firepower – including a grand slam from freshman phenom Braden Shewmake – and predictably effective pitching staff en route to a series-opening victory, 9-2.

The Aggies jumped on Mississippi State early, plating three runs in the second inning. Joel Davis and Cole Bedford both singled with one out to put runners on first and second. Two batters later, Walker Pennington laced a double down the left field line to score them both. Nick Choruby followed that with a base knock of his own to send Pennington Home and give the Aggies a 3-0 lead.

Mississippi State threatened to close the gap immediately as catcher Josh Lovelady tagged A&M starter Brigham Hill for a lead-off double and single put runners on the corners for the Bulldogs. Poole attempted to steal second but got caught in a pickle and was eventually run down by the Aggie infield. Hill got out of the inning with a groundout.

The Bulldogs got on the board one inning later. Hill gave up a lead-off single then plunked the next batter. After a mound visit from A&M coach Rob Childress, he gave up an RBI-single to Cody Brown. Two batters later, an infield single plated another, cutting the Aggie lead to one before A&M could get out of the frame.

"I think (getting out of the fourth) was the turning point in the game," Hill said. "In the third inning, too – just getting the pick-off there. That really boosted us."

In response, Texas A&M topped its second-inning output in the bottom half of the inning. Bulldog starting pitcher Konnor Pilkington led off the fourth with a walk and hit batter, as well. A&M shortstop Austin Homan moved the runners over with a sacrifice bunt, and the Bulldogs intentionally walked Nick Choruby to load the bases to set up a potential double play.

That's when the dam started to burst for the Bulldogs. Baine Schoenvogel walked on four pitches, scoring one run (and bringing the A&M faithful in the stands to 'ball nine' as their infamous chant got louder). That brought Shewmake to the plate with the bases juiced, and he delivered in a big way.

The Aggie second baseman took three balls (those in the stands were quick to point out that they were waiting for 'ball 12') and a strike before taking the bat off of his shoulder for a no-doubter to right field that cleared the visitors' bullpen. The grand slam pushed the Aggie lead to 8-2 and put the game out of reach. Shewmake was just happy to support his pitcher.

"It's always nice to get one in a big game like that," he said. "Brigham is up there pitching his guts out, so we've got to stay behind him and keep trying to score runs for him, so any time we can get a run on the board is huge."

Working with a six-run cushion, Hill settled in for the next three innings and refused to give up a run before handing the ball off. All told, he threw seven innings, giving up two runs on seven hits and striking out six without walking anyone. Childress praised his starter after the game.

"From the fourth inning on, Brigham was fabulous," he said. "We were able to get some pitches established, and he could throw over the plate. He was able to pitch backwards and get the changeup going. Like I said, those last four innings were pretty special."

A&M tacked on an insurance run in the bottom of the seventh before allowing hurlers Kaylor Chafin and Jason Ruffcorn to shut down the Bulldog bats in the eighth and ninth innings, respectively.

With the win, Texas A&M climbed another rung on the SEC ladder and pulled even with the Bulldogs in the conference standings. The Aggies will look to pass them tomorrow at Olsen Field. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.