Foster homers as Aggies stay undefeated with 9-7 win over Incarnate Word
Game #9: Texas A&M 9, UIW 7
Records: Texas A&M 9-0 (0-0), Incarnate Word 5-4 (0-0)
WP: Kaylor Chafin (1-0)
LP: John Shull (1-2)
Box Score
The Aggies stayed undefeated in 2018 with a victory over Incarnate Word on Wednesday night, beating the Cardinals 9-7 at Olsen Field.
Braden Shewmake went 2-for-3 at the plate with two RBI and two runs scored, and Logan Foster pitched in a mammoth two-run homer in what was a nice tune-up game leading up to this weekend’s Frisco College Baseball Classic.
“We finished the month of February off the right way — it’s hard to do better than we did,” head coach Rob Childress said after the game. “New month, new challenges going on the road. It’s going to be a regional-type atmosphere, they do a great job putting on that tournament, and all three teams are going to be an incredible test for us.”
The Aggies got on the board first in the opening frame as Michael Helman worked a walk, advanced to third on a single by Shewmake and scored on a sacrifice fly by Chris Andritsos.
Dustin Saenz, starting for the second time this season, was sharp early as he blanked the Cardinals through three innings, allowing only one hit.
The A&M offense piled on the run support in the bottom of the third. Allonte Wingate led off with a single to right, ending UIW starter John Shull’s night. After a Zach DeLoach walk and a bunt single by Helman loaded the bases, Shewmake plated two with a single to right. Moments later, Helman trotted home on an errant pickoff attempt to first base and Shewmake advanced all the way to third.
Later in the inning, Foster drove in Shewmake with a sacrifice fly to center.
"There's a lot of guys up and down the lineup that can swing the stick," said Foster, the team's leading hitter at .481. "It definitely makes you more comfortable stepping in the box knowing you've got guys in front of you that can swing it and guys behind you that can pick you up, too."
The Cardinals got to Saenz in the fourth, though, as the freshman lefty got in trouble immediately and had to be pulled from the game before recording an out. He gave up a hit-by-pitch and back-to-back hits, and after an RBI double by Lee Thomas put the Cardinals on the board for the first time of the evening, Childress called for ace reliever Kaylor Chafin out of the bullpen.
Chafin retired the first two batters he faced with a strikeout and a groundout to the pitcher and looked like he would wiggle out of the jam unscathed, but Eddy Gonzalez singled up the middle to score one and then the ball kicked off Shewmake’s glove at short, allowing another run to cross the plate and cut A&M’s lead to 5-3.
The Aggies responded with a run in the fourth, and then Foster pummeled a 1-0 fastball way over the wall in left field to put them ahead for good.
“It felt great,” Foster said of his first homer of the season. “Good to see Braden [Shewmake] at home plate, he’s my roommate, and just to see him smiling definitely made me feel good.”
The Aggies tacked on another run in the eighth with a Wingate RBI single that scored Cole Bedford from third.
After Chafin left the game in the fifth, Childress went with five different relievers to close out the win. Christian Roa, Mason Cole and Asa Lacy all tossed scoreless innings before Landon Miner allowed a grand slam in the ninth that made the final score closer than the game actually was.
Now the Aggies will head up to Frisco for a three-game slate against Louisiana Tech, Baylor and Cal. They will first face off against La Tech on Friday, with first pitch scheduled for 7 p.m.
