John Doxakis, explosive fourth inning propel Aggies past Indiana, 10-3
Game #60: Texas A&M 10, Indiana 3
Records: Texas A&M (40-20), Indiana (38-18)
WP: John Doxakis (8-5)
LP: Jonathan Stiever (5-6)
Box Score
AUSTIN — John Doxakis allowed only one hit and struck out 12, the Aggie offense exploded for seven runs in the fourth inning as Texas A&M cruised to a 10-3 win over Indiana to advance to the winner’s bracket of the Austin Regional.
Doxakis bested his career high in strikeouts, recording 12 on the day. He threw 63 of his 95 pitches for strikes, walked only two and allowed just one run, which was unearned.
“I think he was every bit as good as he was last week against Auburn,” head coach Rob Childress said of Doxakis. “He set the bar for himself last week against Auburn in the tournament, and I felt like he got to it again today.”
Doxakis’ brilliance was the fifth straight tremendous outing from the A&M pitching staff. In those five games, Aggie starters have scattered four earned runs over 31.1 innings, good for a sparkling 1.15 ERA.
“It all starts on the mound,” Childress said. “When your starters give you a shot and allow you to grab the lead early, everything is simpatico. When the starters go out and put up zeroes and allow you to score first, you’re not chasing runs.”
It was a pitcher’s duel in the early going, and Doxakis traded zeroes with Indiana starter Jonathan Stiever, the Big 10 leader in strikeouts. Each pitcher faced the minimum through three innings, but the Aggies came alive in the fourth.
Zach DeLoach and Michael Helman hit back-to-back singles to start the inning, and after two outs, Foster plated DeLoach with an RBI-single to right. Will Frizzell ripped the very next pitch Stiever threw off the base of the wall in left field for a two-run double.
After two walks and an infield single, DeLoach blasted a double over the center fielder’s head, clearing the bases and giving the Aggies a commanding 7-0 lead.
“That took the wind out of our sails a little bit,” Indiana head coach Chris Lemonis said of the fourth inning explosion. “Falling behind at that point made it tough the rest of the game. I give my guys credit for coming back, but against that pitching staff and that arm, seven runs is a lot.”
In all, the Aggies batted around in the inning and scored all of their runs with two outs.
“As a team we’ve talked about keeping it simple and not trying to do too much at the plate,” said Foster, who has eight hits in the last five games. “Everyone felt a lot more comfortable at the plate today, and we weren’t trying to do too much.
“We knew all we needed was that first hit and then we’d get rolling. Having guys getting base hits really opens up the eyes for the other guys to get the job done.”
That was plenty of support for Doxakis, who turned in his second consecutive incredible outing. After he carried a no-hitter into the eighth against Auburn, he did not allow a baserunner until the fourth and struck out at least one in all six of his innings.
He struck out seven of the first eight hitters he faced as he commanded his fastball in the low 90s all evening long. He also mixed in the occasional changeup to keep the Hoosiers off-balance.
“Usually fastball command isn’t my best thing, and once I established that it was easier to throw the slider and keep it on the same plane as the fastball,” said Doxakis, who has struck out 22 and walked two in his last two starts. “I didn’t feel like they knew what was coming, and it made it a lot easier to pitch.”
The Aggies added one run in three of the next four innings following the seven-run explosion to put the game out of reach and save the A&M bullpen for future games.
Stephen Kolek, who hadn’t pitched since the final game of the regular season 13 days ago, relieved Doxakis in the seventh and threw two innings of relief. Kolek gave up one run and struck out four before Christian Roa finished the win in the ninth.
With the win, the Aggies will meet the winner of the Texas-Texas Southern game Saturday night at 6 p.m. Childress said he will wait until he finds out the Aggies’ next opponent before he names a starting pitcher for the next game.
“We’ll watch tonight’s game and do whatever is best for our team and gives our team the best chance to win tomorrow night,” Childress said. “It’s always important to win the first game.
“You win tomorrow night, and you’re in the driver’s seat. Somebody’s got to come out and play early on Sunday and then come back and beat you Sunday night. It takes an awful lot of toughness to do that, and it is nice to be playing Saturday night.”