Aggie relievers deliver in 7-4 victory over UT-Rio Grande Valley

Game # 14: Texas A&M 7, UTRGV 4

Records: Texas A&M 11-3 (0-0), UTRGV 10-4 (0-0)

WP: Corbin Martin (1-2)

LP: Josh Witherspoon (0-1)

After a tough last couple of days, the Texas A&M bullpen was in need of a confidence-building performance. Two rough outings over the weekend followed by a high-scoring affair yesterday had the Aggie relievers looking for something positive to build on.

They got that tonight.

The combination of Corbin Martin, Kaylor Chafin, and Landon Miner combined to give up just 4 hits and 1 run over 6 innings of work as the Aggies defeated UT-Rio Grande Valley, 7-4, in the finale of the two-game midweek series. Martin got the win, his first of the year, while Josh Witherspoon took the loss for the Vaqueros.

“I thought we played a lot better today,” said A&M head coach Rob Childress. “We didn’t score 17 runs, but we played a much cleaner ballgame. At 3 o’clock coming off of a night game … for us to stay in the moment and to come out and play well, I was really proud of our guys.”

Freshman Kyle Richardson lasted just 3 innings in his first collegiate start, giving up 3 hits and 3 earned runs, including a 2-run home run to Anibal Leal in the top of the third that gave the Vaqueros a 3-0 lead.

The Aggies answered, however, in the bottom of the 3rd. After Austin Homan and Logan Foster reached base to start the inning, Cole Bedford drove in Homan with a one-out single to left. Bedford was 3-5 on the day, with 2 runs driven in and a stolen base in his first game hitting second in the order.

“Choruby had the day off so they put me in the two-hole,” he said. “I’d been down at 7th or 8th, but it’s still the same approach. We just stick with what we do. I had Foster in front of me, and he had a couple of at-bats where he saw 5 or 6 pitches, so I got to see a lot too. I felt like he took the pressure off of me, so it was an easy day.”

Foster would score next when Vaquero second baseman Austin Siener misplayed a Braden Shewmake ground ball. 

Down 3-2 going into the top of the 4th, Childress looked to Martin, the junior right-hander from Cypress, to keep the Aggies in the game. Martin delivered 4 scoreless innings of relief, giving up just one hit and striking out 3 in his longest outing of the season.

“I thought he controlled the game,” said Childress. “He pitched today. He wasn’t trying to throw 100 miles per hour. He made it easy, and he controlled the game; the game wasn’t in control of him.”

Martin agreed with Childress’ assessment.

“We went and talked after this last weekend, and I was trying to over-throw,” He said. “I did a little work, and today I went out there and was pitching instead of just throwing. I felt good throwing all of my pitches for strikes and being able to get outs early in the count, which was big for me and our team getting us off the field.”

The Aggies tied the game on a Homan RBI groundout in the bottom of the fourth. After a scoreless fifth, the Aggies managed to get two runners on base with nobody out. A pop-out and a failed squeeze attempt brought Foster to the plate with two outs and Homan and Jorge Gutierrez on base.

He hit a towering triple to straight-away center, scoring both runners and giving the Aggies a lead they would not surrender. Foster later scored on another RBI-single from Bedford.

Foster ended the day 2-5 with 2 runs scored and 2 driven in. The triple was A&M’s 14th on the season, which leads the nation.

Chafin threw a scoreless eighth, and the Aggies took advantage of two Vaquero balks in the bottom half of the inning to add on an insurance run.

Miner came on in the top of the ninth to close things out for the Aggies. Despite giving up a solo home run, the freshman right-hander managed to end the Vaquero’s late-inning rally attempt and give the Aggies the series sweep their eleventh win of the 2017 season.

Looking forward to this weekend, the Aggies will face Brown in a three-game series. Childress wants to see his relievers build on their successful outing today.

“We still need to keep improving. We need to keep defining our bullpen. We have four more games before (SEC play begins), and that’s what we want to see this weekend. Build that bullpen and have guys in specific roles before that.”

First pitch against Brown on Friday is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Junior right-hander Brigham Hill is expected to toe the rubber for the Aggies.