Aggies rally late to win hard-fought series opener over Long Beach State, 3-1
Game #15: Texas A&M 3, Long Beach State 1
Records: Texas A&M 14-1 (0-0), Long Beach State 5-9 (0-0)
WP: Stephen Kolek (3-1)
LP: Clayton Andrews (2-2)
SV: Nolan Hoffman (2)
Box Score
Texas A&M fans were treated to a “Roommate Special” in Friday night’s series opener against Long Beach State.
Michael Helman and Braden Shewmake each recorded RBI hits in the seventh to put A&M ahead for the first time, Logan Foster added to the lead with a solo home run in the eighth and Nolan Hoffman tossed 1.2 innings of shutdown relief to save the Aggies’ 3-1 win at Olsen Field.
The quartet of Aggies all live together in a College Station four-bedroom apartment, and they all played pivotal roles in the hard-fought victory, as did George Janca, who began the rally with a single up the middle.
“It’s pretty cool to see that unfold,” Shewmake said after the game. “But honestly it all starts with George before that. He had two strikes on him and he battled. Things haven’t gone his way, but he’s such a competitor and such a good baseball player that everybody in the dugout had that feeling that George was going to do something special.”
Janca, whose batting average remains well below the Mendoza Line, went 1-for-3 and scored the tying run in the seventh.
It only took six pitches for the Aggies to face a 1-0 deficit as Stephen Kolek allowed a leadoff double and an RBI single in the first, but the junior settled down quickly after that. He did not allow another run the rest of the way, putting together a marvelous 7.1 innings of one-run ball, striking out three.
He attacked the strike zone and was very efficient from the onset, averaging less than 12 pitches per inning.
“Them getting off to a 1-0 lead to start off was kind of a wake-up call,” Kolek said. “You just have to batten down the hatches and fill up the strike zone and wait for the bats to come around. They always do, and I was just doing my part to let the defense work.”
It was only a matter of time before the Aggie offense got rolling, and that’s exactly what happened in the seventh. Janca started the rally with a two-strike single up the middle and, after a strikeout, Helman doubled into the right-field corner to tie the game. Helman advanced to third on an error, and then Shewmake broke an 0-for-10 slump with a go-ahead line drive single to right.
“He has a hitter’s heart,” Childress said of Shewmake. “He’s going to keep swinging and he’s going to get his and certainly his one hit tonight couldn’t have been bigger. He gave us the lead and he played amazing defense all night long.”
With his pitch count well below 80, Kolek came back out for the eighth but promptly allowed the first two Dirtbags to reach base. After a sacrifice bunt, Nolan Hoffman was called out of the bullpen to try to escape the jam.
The junior sidewinder from Nebraska did the job with tremendous aplomb, striking out Chris Jimenez and then inducing a groundout to shortstop to preserve the Aggies’ 2-1 lead.
The next half-inning, Foster crushed a first-pitch fastball to left-center to provide another insurance run that Hoffman didn’t ultimately need. He allowed a single but nothing more in the ninth for his second save of the season.
“I was just trying to go in and pick Steve up, and I just happened to get the strikeout,” said Hoffman, who has yet to allow an earned run in 13.1 innings this season. “I was just trying to throw it over the plate and luckily we were able to get it to two strikes and where I could get it to an approach where I could get a K.”
The Aggies made several highlight-reel plays in the field in this one, including inning-ending diving catches on line drives by Shewmake and Chris Andritsos. A&M had one error in the game, but it came with two outs and didn’t cost the Aggies a run as Kolek was able to pitch around it.
“I was just trying to fill up the strike zone and let our defense do their job,” Kolek said. “They did an excellent job tonight. I wouldn’t have made it to the seventh inning without them — they really picked me up, so give all the credit to them.”
Long Beach starter Clayton Andrews was saddled with the loss, but he pitched superbly in defeat. The 5-6 left-hander, who also hit in the two-hole for the Dirtbags, struck out 10 in seven innings before the Aggies were able to tag him for the pair of runs in the seventh after his pitch count cross the century mark.
Andrews mixed a changeup and slow curveball in with an accurate fastball to keep the Aggies off balance at the plate.
“He’s such a baseball player, I think any team in the country would be lucky to have him,” Childress said. “He’s got a great approach at the plate, he’s competitive on the mound. He could tell you his changeup is coming, and you’re going to have trouble putting a barrel on it.”
John Doxakis takes the ball for the Aggies on Saturday as they look to clinch another series. First pitch is scheduled for 2 p.m. and can be seen on the SEC Network +.
