Game #9: Texas A&M 12, Incarnate Word 5
Records: Texas A&M 8-1 (0-0), IWU 5-5 (0-0)
WP: Lee May Gonzalez (1-0)
LP: Luke Taggart (1-1)
It was a chilly and windy Wednesday night at Olsen Field, and the Aggies were looking to get some solid work in before this weekend's Shriner’s Classic in Houston. Although A&M started cold, the bats got hot late en route to a 12-5 victory over Incarnate Word.
The Aggies started slowly. Freshmen phenom Braden Shewmake made an error on the first ball put in play by Cardinal lead-off hitter Mark Whitehead. Whitehead later came around to score, and the Aggies trailed, 2-0, after the top of the first.
The Aggies answered back quickly, though, scoring two runs in the bottom of the inning – one on a Braden Shewmake RBI groundout, and another on a Blake Kopetsky fly ball to left that got caught up in the wind and dropped for a hit.
With A&M trailing 3-2 after two innings, head coach Rob Childress brought on Lee May Gonzalez in relief of starter Kaylor Chafin. Gonzalez shut the Cardinals down.
With A&M trailing 3-2 after two innings, head coach Rob Childress brought on Lee May Gonzalez in relief of starter Kaylor Chafin. Gonzalez shut the Cardinals down, going 4.0 IP, allowing 1 hit, and striking out 6.
“Lee May Gonzalez completely took their momentum away from them. He was fantastic,” said Childress.
“I thought his attack was really good. He brought an energy to our dugout.”
Gonzalez, a junior, made only his second appearance in an Aggie uniform, and his first since 2015, after sitting out a redshirt season as a sophomore.
“This is something I’ve been waiting for, just an opportunity to get out on the mound,” he said after the game.
The Aggie bullpen trio of Gonzalez, Kyle Richardson and Corbin Martin allowed a total of two hits, giving up zero runs in their combined six innings of work.
A&M would take the lead for good in the bottom of the third on a Joel Davis RBI-single that scored Kopetsky, but Davis’ night was far from over at the plate. The Aggie first baseman went 4-4 on Wednesday night with a single, two triples, a solo home run into the visitors' bullpen in right-field and a walk in 5 plate appearances. All in all, Davis finished with 5 RBI on the night bringing his season total to 13.
“Joel had a great night for us and couldn’t get going at a better time going into this weekend,” added Rob Childress on his first baseman’s performance.
Davis finished the night a double short of the cycle – a double that he would’ve had if he had pulled up on his second triple in the 8th.
“I peeked at Coach Bolt and saw him continue to wave me around. I couldn’t stop.” Davis said. “The baseball gods definitely wouldn’t have favored me after that.”
Davis later scored on an Austin Homan RBI-single to extend the Aggie lead to 12-3
Reliever Cason Sherrod came in to pitch the ninth for the Aggies. He struggled a bit, giving up two earned runs on two hits and one walk, but A&M's cushion was more than deep enough to secure the win.
The Aggies will be back in action this weekend at the Shriner’s Classic in Houston. Game one for the Aggies is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. against Texas Tech.
“It’ll be better than any regional any of these teams will play in," said Childress. "It will be a great benchmark for all six of these teams as to where they are and what they need to do better leading up to conference play.”
