Rob Childress
Brigham Hill
Nick Choruby
Braden Shewmake
Texas A&M Baseball
Texas A&M blasts error-prone Bowling Green in season opener, 15-1
GAME #1: Texas A&M 15, Bowling Green 1
RECORDS: Texas A&M 1-0, Bowling Green 0-1
WP: Brigham Hill (1-0)
LP: Tyler Anderson (0-1)
SAVE: None
BOX SCORE
College baseball's high-profile programs often host weak competition on the season's opening weekend to start the year off on the right foot. Texas A&M often uses this strategy to rack up some easy wins and shake off the offseason rust.
Those wins come even more easily for the Aggies when their opponent commits a series of unforced errors.
That's exactly what happened on Friday as Texas A&M took advantage of an error-prone Bowling Green squad early, scoring up a couple of unearned runs before pounding the Falcons into submission in the later innings of a 15-1 victory.
The Aggies got off to a quick start. Nick Choruby led off with a single and moved to third base on an Austin Homan double. Both runners scored on consecutive Bowling Green errors and gave A&M an early 2-0 lead.
The Aggies extended the lead in the fourth, plating two more runs. Hunter Coleman reached second with a single and a Bowling Green balk. Then Nick Choruby doubled to right center, sending Coleman home. Choruby scored one batter later on an error by BGSU left fielder Ty Suntken. The Aggies added another run in the fifth to go up, 5-0.
Working with a cushion, Aggie pitcher Brigham Hill kept the Falcon bats at bay through the early innings. The junior right-hander displayed some early jitters but was able to avoid damage on his way to a clean outing.
He finished with six innings pitched and no earned runs and gave up seven hits while striking out ten.
"I thought he was fantastic tonight," A&M head coach Rob Childress said of Hill. "That's what you need out of your Friday guy. Brigham gave us a great start."
The Aggie offense handled things from there, scoring at least three runs in each of its last three at-bats.
Led by highly-touted freshman Braden Shewmake, the Maroon and White plated four runs in the sixth inning. With the bases loaded, Shewmake sliced a two-RBI double to right center. First baseman Joel Davis followed that with a two-RBI single to extend the Aggie lead to nine.
"(Jitters) were there. They were definitely there," Shewmake said of his first collegiate game. "(I had) butterflies, but once Brigham threw the first pitch, they were gone. They were non-existent throughout the game. It was a lot of fun tonight."
That was increasingly evident, as Texas A&M went on to score six more runs in the next two innings, including a two-RBI single from Shewmake in the seventh, while pitchers Kaylor Chafin and Jason Ruffcorn held the Falcons to just one run through the final stretch.
Texas A&M will face the Falcons in a double-header tomorrow at Olsen to wrap up the season's first weekend series. The first game will start at 1:00 p.m.
RECORDS: Texas A&M 1-0, Bowling Green 0-1
WP: Brigham Hill (1-0)
LP: Tyler Anderson (0-1)
SAVE: None
BOX SCORE
College baseball's high-profile programs often host weak competition on the season's opening weekend to start the year off on the right foot. Texas A&M often uses this strategy to rack up some easy wins and shake off the offseason rust.
Those wins come even more easily for the Aggies when their opponent commits a series of unforced errors.
That's exactly what happened on Friday as Texas A&M took advantage of an error-prone Bowling Green squad early, scoring up a couple of unearned runs before pounding the Falcons into submission in the later innings of a 15-1 victory.
The Aggies got off to a quick start. Nick Choruby led off with a single and moved to third base on an Austin Homan double. Both runners scored on consecutive Bowling Green errors and gave A&M an early 2-0 lead.
The Aggies extended the lead in the fourth, plating two more runs. Hunter Coleman reached second with a single and a Bowling Green balk. Then Nick Choruby doubled to right center, sending Coleman home. Choruby scored one batter later on an error by BGSU left fielder Ty Suntken. The Aggies added another run in the fifth to go up, 5-0.
Working with a cushion, Aggie pitcher Brigham Hill kept the Falcon bats at bay through the early innings. The junior right-hander displayed some early jitters but was able to avoid damage on his way to a clean outing.
The Falcons threatened in the top of the sixth and loaded the bases, but Hill responded beautifully and earned a high-pressure strikeout to end the inning.
The Falcons threatened in the top of the sixth and loaded the bases, but Hill responded beautifully and earned a high-pressure strikeout to end the inning keep the shut-out intact.He finished with six innings pitched and no earned runs and gave up seven hits while striking out ten.
"I thought he was fantastic tonight," A&M head coach Rob Childress said of Hill. "That's what you need out of your Friday guy. Brigham gave us a great start."
The Aggie offense handled things from there, scoring at least three runs in each of its last three at-bats.
Led by highly-touted freshman Braden Shewmake, the Maroon and White plated four runs in the sixth inning. With the bases loaded, Shewmake sliced a two-RBI double to right center. First baseman Joel Davis followed that with a two-RBI single to extend the Aggie lead to nine.
"(Jitters) were there. They were definitely there," Shewmake said of his first collegiate game. "(I had) butterflies, but once Brigham threw the first pitch, they were gone. They were non-existent throughout the game. It was a lot of fun tonight."
That was increasingly evident, as Texas A&M went on to score six more runs in the next two innings, including a two-RBI single from Shewmake in the seventh, while pitchers Kaylor Chafin and Jason Ruffcorn held the Falcons to just one run through the final stretch.
Texas A&M will face the Falcons in a double-header tomorrow at Olsen to wrap up the season's first weekend series. The first game will start at 1:00 p.m.
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