Aggies hit five home runs to finish off sweep of Rhode Island, 10-2
WP: Mitchell Kilkenny (1-0)
LP: Vitaly Jangols (0-1)
Texas A&M completed its sweep of Rhode Island on Sunday as Mitchell Kilkenny spun a gem on the mound and the Aggies crushed five home runs to cruise to a 10-2 victory.
Kilkenny struck out seven in 6.1 stellar innings, allowing only four hits and walking one. He retired the first nine batters of the game, faced the minimum through five innings and didn’t give up a run until Josh Powell homered in the seventh.
“I thought he was incredibly aggressive and on the attack from his first pitch to the last pitch,” head coach Rob Childress said after the game. “He just did a marvelous job for us today.”
The Aggies wasted little time getting on the board first, as Saturday’s hero Zach DeLoach led off the opening frame with a single and advanced to third on a Braden Shewmake double. Hunter Coleman, making his first start of the season, drove in DeLoach with an RBI groundout and Shewmake scored moments later on a passed ball.
Coleman, who went 2-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI, was the designated hitter Sunday but will look to get some action at first base in the near future as he recovers from a hamstring injury.
“It’s just nice to have that presence in the middle of the lineup,” Childress said. “I know he’s glad to get out there and he certainly did a nice job. We’re going to get him 100 percent and try to get him out there on defense next week.”
Two innings later, Helman recorded A&M’s first home run of the season, punishing a fastball that Rams starter Vitaly Jangols left down the middle off the scoreboard in left. The two-run shot put the Ags ahead 4-0, and they gave Kilkenny another run of support in the sixth as Coleman smashed a double off the center field wall and later scored on an RBI single by Will Frizzell.
This allowed Kilkenny to settle into the game even more. The junior righty from Houston had all three of his pitches working, including a fastball that touched 95 mph and a curveball that overpowered the Rams hitters.
“I just went out there to throw strikes,” Kilkenny said. “When I take care of my job, the team can pick up on that momentum and when everyone gets going, this team is dangerous.”
After scoring four runs in each of the first two games and looking like they would score about that again on Sunday, the powerful A&M offense caught fire in the seventh. DeLoach and Helman hit back-to-back homers to put the Aggies up 7-2, and then George Janca and Chris Andritsos went back-to-back again in the eighth.
“It felt really good,” DeLoach said of his first career homer. “I was just sitting fastball right there, and I was lucky enough to stay flat with our approach and just hammer the ball.
Helman and DeLoach went a combined 12-for-26 (.462) at the plate in their first weekend as Aggies, offering plenty of production at the top of the dominant A&M lineup.
“We started off a little bit slow, but Coach Bolt talked to us and told us to stick to our approach,” Helman said. “I think once we started really focusing on that, we really started driving balls and hitting balls out of the park.”
Chafin relieved Kilkenny in the seventh, and allowed the Rams to get their second run of the game on a ground ball that caromed off a diving Allonte Wingate’s glove at third and snuck into left field.
Nolan Hoffman made his first appearance as an Aggie in the eighth, and the sidewinder flashed electric stuff en route to two scoreless innings.
With the win, the Aggies start 3-0 on the season and will return to action Tuesday with a home contest against Stephen F. Austin. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. at Olsen Field.