Texas A&M Baseball drops 14-inning marathon to Tennessee, 5-3

Game #41: Tennessee 5, Texas A&M 3 (14 innings)

Records: Texas A&M 28-13 (10-8 SEC); Tennessee 20-17 (5-13)

WP: Zach Lingfelter (3-4)

LP: John Doxakis (2-2)

S: Andrew Schultz (1)

There’s an old saying that goes: “It’s not how you start; it’s how you finish.” That adage held true in the five-hour contest that was Sunday’s finale between Texas A&M and Tennessee.

The Aggie bats were active early, and Stephen Kolek was on his game. But the team could not hold onto a late lead and fell to the Volunteers, 5-3, in 14 innings in front of 4,837 fans at Olsen Field. Zach Lingfelter got the win in relief for Tennessee, while John Doxakis took the loss for A&M. Nick Choruby was 3-6, and Braden Shewmake, Logan Foster and George Janca each had two hits.

After the game, head coach Rob Childress said the difference in the contest was situational hitting.

“From the fifth inning on, we went 0-9 with runners in scoring position, but we didn’t finish,” he said. “It’s certainly disappointing to give it away there in the last inning with four walks and one hit. It’s hard to swallow.”

The Aggies got the scoring started in the bottom of the second inning. With the bases loaded and nobody out, Blake Kopetsky scored Hunter Coleman on a fielder’s choice to second base. An Austin Homan sac bunt then plated Joel Davis, and the Aggies were up, 2-0.

Back-to-back two-out doubles by Andre Lipcius and Pete Derkay put the Volunteers on the board in the top of the fourth.

Shewmake answered in the bottom of the fifth with an RBI-single that scored Choruby and extended the lead to 3-1.

Kolek had arguably one of his best outings in an A&M uniform. The right-hander from Shepherd had Tennessee hitters guessing on his slider all night, going 7-plus innings, allowing 3 hits, 2 runs, walking 2 and striking out a career-high 11 batters on 103 pitches.

The key, according to Kolek, was to keep pounding the zone with strikes.

“I’m pitching without a fear of messing up,” he said. “I’m attacking the zone more and not being afraid to keep attacking. Keeping the ball down (was the key factor). I try not to leave it above the knees, and usually that works out pretty well. I think I did that pretty good today.”

Childress also spoke highly of Kolek’s performance.

“For the last three weeks, that’s the best I’ve seen him,” he said. “I’ve said that the last three Sundays, but today was the best I’ve seen him. He was fabulous and deserved a much better fate than he got today.”

In the bottom of the seventh, back-to-back singles by Choruby and Foster followed by a Shewmake walk loaded the bases for A&M with nobody out. A fielder’s choice and a couple of strikeouts by Lingfelter got the Volunteers out of the inning unscathed. That missed opportunity would come back to haunt the Aggies immediately.

With the Aggie lead still 3-1 in the top of the eighth, Kolek walked the lead-off batter and was replaced by Cason Sherrod. A single and a sacrifice bunt brought Jordan Rodgers to the plate with two on and one out. Rodgers doubled to the left, tying the game at 3. The score would remain the same for the next six innings.

Tennessee’s Lingfelter and the A&M combo of Kaylor Chafin, Mitchell Kilkenny and John Doxakis worked around the occasional scoring threat to keep the game knotted into the fourteenth inning.

In the top of the fourteenth, Doxakis walked two and induced a couple of outs, bringing Luc Lipcius to the plate. He singled to left, scoring Matt Waldren and giving the Volunteers the lead. Turner Larkins then came on and walked home a run before Jason Ruffcorn got the Aggies out of the inning.

A&M threatened in the bottom half of the inning. Foster and Cole Bedford singled, but as was the case all day, the Aggies could not string together the timely hit. Back-to-back strikeouts by Davis and Janca ended the game.

“It was an incredibly disappointing finish to the weekend,” said Childress. “Our inability to finish in the seventh inning with the bases loaded and nobody out with our four-, five- and six-hitters not being able to drive anybody in, then going back out in the eighth and allowing them to tie the game. We had our opportunities throughout the course of the day.”

The Aggies will return to action on Tuesday against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. at Olsen Field.