Story Poster
Rob Childress
Cole Bedford
Kaylor Chafin
Texas A&M Baseball

Cole Bedford's bat, bullpen arms push Aggies past Islanders, 5-2

April 25, 2017
2,803

Game #42: Texas A&M 5, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 2
Records: Texas A&M 29-13 (10-8 SEC); Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 14-27 (6-12 Southland)
WP: Kaylor Chafin (5-1)
LP: Chris Glover (0-1)
S: Cason Sherrod (2)


Midweek games tend to be an opportunity for coaches to get work in for pitchers who don’t see a whole lot of weekend action. In Tuesday’s contest however, Texas A&M had to turn to two of their more reliable arms out of the bullpen.

In a low-scoring affair, the Aggies defeated the Islanders of Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, 5-2, in front of 3,935 fans at Olsen Field. Kaylor Chafin got the win in relief to improve to 5-1 on the year, while Cason Sherrod got the save. Cole Bedford led the way at the plate with two extra-base hits, two runs scored and one run driven in.

After an extremely competitive weekend series against Tennessee, A&M coach Rob Childress was pleased with the way his team performed against the Islanders.

Lexie Hudson, TexAgs Texas A&M head coach Rob Childress was happy with the Aggies' midweek win, citing improved defense and pitching as big factors in their recent success.
“I’m proud of our win,” he said. “We spend a lot of emotion on weekends to get through SEC play, and for us to come out ready to go says a lot about our group. We hit a lot of balls hard tonight. 10 hits and a lot of balls hit hard right at them. Pitching and defense were outstanding. Turner (Larkins) scuffled a little bit early, but he got it back together and the bullpen was outstanding."

The Islanders struck first in this one. A lead-off walk and a single to right gave A&M-Corpus Christi runners on first and third with nobody out in the top of the first. A Brett Burner RBI-groundout gave them the early 1-0 lead.

A&M answered soon after. In the bottom of the second, Cole Bedford walked and scored following a couple of wild pitches by Islander starter Chris Glover. The Aggies then got a solid dose of two-out hitting. Singles by Austin Homan and Blake Kopetsky were followed by a Nick Choruby bases-clearing double that put A&M up, 3-1. 

The Islanders got one back in the fourth on a Harrison DiNicola RBI-single. The fourth inning was the last for A&M starter Larkins, who gave up 2 runs on 5 hits and struck out 3.
Chafin came on in relief of Larkins. The left-hander from Sweeny threw three scoreless innings to earn his fifth win of the year. 

After only one appearance last weekend, Chafin was excited to get some midweek work in.

“We had a lot of quality starts this weekend,” he said. “(Mitchell) Kilkenny did everything he needed to, so we had to get our work in on a Tuesday. It felt good. It’s fun to get out there and compete whether it’s Tuesday or the weekend. It’s all the same to us.” 

The Aggies added two more insurance runs in support of Chafin. After Bedford tripled with two outs in the fifth, Jorge Gutierrez scored him with a single to right. In the seventh, Bedford laced a double down the left field line to plate Joel Davis.

Bedford credited assistant coach Justin Seely with getting him on track for his big night.

Bridgett Ledak, TexAgs Cole Bedford spoke highly of hitting coach Justin Seely when asked about his big night at the plate.
“After my first at-bat, I came in here, and Coach Seely and I talked about a little kink in my swing that I had,” said Bedford. “We went back and worked on it then I just went up and tried to see if I could feel it the first pitch. I had a take, and I kind of felt it so I felt pretty good after that.”

Sherrod entered the game in the top of the eighth to close it out. The junior right-hander worked a scoreless eighth and ninth, giving up just one hit, striking out three and earning his second save of the year.

Up next for A&M is a trip to Columbia to take on the Missouri Tigers. Childress expects a competitive series against a ball club that has played well within the confines of Taylor Stadium.

“This weekend against Missouri is going to be an awfully tough challenge,” he said. “The elements aren’t going to be great, looking at the forecast. But we just need to go up there and play well. It’s an offensive park, so to speak, but they have great pitching and our pitching has been very good so far in SEC play and throughout the last month. It ought to be a great series.”

First pitch for Friday is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. The expected starter for A&M is junior right-hander Brigham Hill.
 
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