Rob Childress
Ryne Birk
Stephen Kolek
Texas A&M Baseball
Aggie bats stay hot as Texas A&M vanquishes Corpus Christi, 13-3
GAME #21: Texas A&M 13, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 3
RECORDS: Texas A&M 19-2, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 9-10
WP: Stephen Kolek (1-0)
LP: Dalton D'Spain (0-3)
BOX SCORE
Texas A&M's potent offense was the story of this past weekend, scoring 31 runs in three games against Auburn, and the Aggies have been hoping to carry that success into this weekend's series with LSU.
To do that, the Aggie bats would have to stay hot against Tuesday's opponent, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. That's exactly what happened. Against a hapless Islander pitching staff, Texas A&M scored 11 runs in the first three innings en route to a 13-3 win in seven innings.
The Aggie onslaught picked up right where it left off last weekend against Islander pitcher Dalton D'Spain. Entering the game with a 9.00 ERA, he lived up to his billing and then some as Texas A&M tagged him for 9 runs in the first two innings.
After J.B. Moss walked to lead off the first, Ryne Birk dropped a double into the left field gap and put both guys in scoring position. Two walks later the Aggies were on the board and in the lead, 1-0.
Birk had a good day at the plate, adding three singles to the double on the stat sheet to finish 4-4 -- a far cry from his struggles earlier this year.
"I think it's just baseball," he said. "You finally get some barrels on the ball, and they fall. You've just got to stay relaxed -- as tough as that is with baseball. You could go 0-4 with four barrels (or) 4-4 with four jam-shots. You just never know."
A wild pitch and a walk followed the initial outburst, scoring another run. With only one out, Nick Choruby decided to put the game away early with a 2-RBI single into left field that put the Aggies up 4-0.
That was all the Aggies would need, but they weren't done -- not by a long shot. The Maroon and White added 5 runs on 5 hits in the fifth and then scored two more in the third on a triple from Nick Banks to take a commanding 11-2 lead.
The Aggies tacked on two more runs in the sixth but were able to cruise for the rest of the game thanks to solid -- if not spectacular -- performances on the mound by the pitching staff.
Stephen Kolek started the game and turned in a five-inning performance, allowing 6 hits and giving up 3 runs to the Islanders in the process. With a massive lead from the second inning onward, Kolek was able to pitch without pressure in his first start.
"Stephen was a little bit rusty," head coach Rob Childress said of the freshman's outing. "It's been a while since he's been on the horse, but I felt like the deeper he got into the game, the better he was."
Kaylor Chafin, Mitchell Kilkenny and Turner Larkins pitched a total of 2 innings to close out the game for the Aggies, surrendering only one hit between them to close out the victory, 13-3, in seven innings.
The Aggies will return to Olsen a day earlier than usual this week because of the Easter holiday. They'll take on No. 10 LSU at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday.
RECORDS: Texas A&M 19-2, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 9-10
WP: Stephen Kolek (1-0)
LP: Dalton D'Spain (0-3)
BOX SCORE
Texas A&M's potent offense was the story of this past weekend, scoring 31 runs in three games against Auburn, and the Aggies have been hoping to carry that success into this weekend's series with LSU.
To do that, the Aggie bats would have to stay hot against Tuesday's opponent, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. That's exactly what happened. Against a hapless Islander pitching staff, Texas A&M scored 11 runs in the first three innings en route to a 13-3 win in seven innings.
The Aggie onslaught picked up right where it left off last weekend against Islander pitcher Dalton D'Spain. Entering the game with a 9.00 ERA, he lived up to his billing and then some as Texas A&M tagged him for 9 runs in the first two innings.
Abigail Cook, TexAgs
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D'Spain's introduction to the powerful Aggie line-up was anything but smooth, his lack of command hurting the Islanders as much as the Aggie bats.. After J.B. Moss walked to lead off the first, Ryne Birk dropped a double into the left field gap and put both guys in scoring position. Two walks later the Aggies were on the board and in the lead, 1-0.
Birk had a good day at the plate, adding three singles to the double on the stat sheet to finish 4-4 -- a far cry from his struggles earlier this year.
"I think it's just baseball," he said. "You finally get some barrels on the ball, and they fall. You've just got to stay relaxed -- as tough as that is with baseball. You could go 0-4 with four barrels (or) 4-4 with four jam-shots. You just never know."
A wild pitch and a walk followed the initial outburst, scoring another run. With only one out, Nick Choruby decided to put the game away early with a 2-RBI single into left field that put the Aggies up 4-0.
That was all the Aggies would need, but they weren't done -- not by a long shot. The Maroon and White added 5 runs on 5 hits in the fifth and then scored two more in the third on a triple from Nick Banks to take a commanding 11-2 lead.
The Aggies tacked on two more runs in the sixth but were able to cruise for the rest of the game thanks to solid -- if not spectacular -- performances on the mound by the pitching staff.
Stephen Kolek started the game and turned in a five-inning performance, allowing 6 hits and giving up 3 runs to the Islanders in the process. With a massive lead from the second inning onward, Kolek was able to pitch without pressure in his first start.
"Stephen was a little bit rusty," head coach Rob Childress said of the freshman's outing. "It's been a while since he's been on the horse, but I felt like the deeper he got into the game, the better he was."
Kaylor Chafin, Mitchell Kilkenny and Turner Larkins pitched a total of 2 innings to close out the game for the Aggies, surrendering only one hit between them to close out the victory, 13-3, in seven innings.
The Aggies will return to Olsen a day earlier than usual this week because of the Easter holiday. They'll take on No. 10 LSU at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday.
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