Aggies use host of young arms to keep Abilene Christian at bay, 10-4

GAME #33: Texas A&M 10, Abilene Christian 4
RECORDS: Texas A&M 26-7 (7-5 SEC); Abilene Christian 11-20
WP: Mitchell Kilkenny (1-0)
LP: Nate Cole (1-4)
BOX SCORE

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A large part of having a successful season in college baseball is winning in the mid-week. Teams can use these games against non-conference competition to stay fresh between grueling conference series and to gain some confidence against what is usually weak competition.

Texas A&M took that to heart on Tuesday night, putting a host of young pitchers on the mound and using offensive outbursts in the second and sixth to put away Abilene Christian, 10-4.

Stephen Kolek got the start for the Aggies and looked good in his short outing. In his two innings of work, the freshman allowed just 2 hits, both of them to the infield. Kolek struck out 3 before giving the ball to Mitchell Kilkenny in the third.

Kilkenny was even better than his counterpart. Throwing two innings, he recorded 4 strikeouts without giving up a hit or walking a man. After a couple quick innings, head coach Rob Childress pulled Kilkenny and put another freshman, Tyler Ivey, on the mound.

Ivey was sharp to start his short appearance, but fell apart after recording his first five outs. With two outs in the top of the sixth, the former starter walked a man and then allowed an RBI-double, surrendering the first run of the day to the Wildcats.

Cason Sherrod, Turner Larkins, Mark Ecker and Ryan Hendrix all took their turns on the mound, pitching no more than one inning each. Hendrix allowed 3 runs on 3 hits in the ninth, but had a large lead to work with and eventually got through the inning.

"For us not to use the bullpen an awful lot this past weekend, we needed to get some guys some work," head coach Rob Childress said. "I was proud of those guys for being sharp and feel like we're as ready as we can be heading into Starkville (this weekend)."

As consistent as they were on the mound, Aggies had a strange night at the plate, going silent for long stretches before exploding for multiple runs in the second and sixth innings.

Texas A&M used small-ball in the second. Producing six singles before the second out, the Aggies scored four runs and made their way around the bases in workmanlike fashion.

As a bevy of Aggie pitchers came and went, the offense went strangely silent for three innings, failing to produce a hit during that stretch as nine Aggies went down in order.

The offense woke up once again in the sixth, scoring 5 runs in the frame after leading off the inning with 5 consecutive hits, including a two-RBI triple from Joel Davis. Ronnie Gideon added the Ags' final run in the seventh when he homered to left and pushed the total to 10.

In Childress' mind, the 10-4 victory will help the Aggies stay fresh as they travel to No. 2 Mississippi State this weekend.

"For us to accomplish the things that we want to accomplish and be at the top of the (SEC), we have to take care of business on the road," he said. "I feel like we learned an awful lot at Florida and answered the bell last weekend. We're ready to go on the road again and accept that challenge."