Offense explodes late as Aggies cruise to series-opening win over Alabama, 12-6
Game #34: Texas A&M 12, Alabama 6
Records: Texas A&M (25-9, 6-7 SEC), Alabama (21-14, 5-8 SEC)
WP: Cason Sherrod (3-1)
LP: Dylan Duarte (3-2)
SV: Nolan Hoffman (6)
Box Score
Cole Bedford went 4-for-5 with a home run, two doubles and five RBI as Texas A&M defeated Alabama 12-6 Thursday night at Olsen Field.
With the Aggies trailing 6-5 in the seventh, Bedford roped a double into the left-center field gap that brought home two runs and gave A&M the lead it had just surrendered the previous inning. After Bedford put them ahead, the Aggies cruised the rest of the way, scoring five in the bottom of the eighth to secure their first series-opening SEC win of the season.
"I think 1-through-9 that was some of the best baseball we've played," Bedford said after the game. "We got some bunts down to set us up in the last inning and we did have a lot of good two-strike, two-out at-bats, so I thought that was really good to see.
"We set ourselves up to win a series tomorrow."
The Crimson Tide scored the first runs of the game in the third when they took advantage of an A&M fielding miscue. With a runner on first, two outs and a run already in, Joe Breaux hit an infield popup that the Aggies let fall in. The next batter Chandler Avant promptly delivered a two-run single to left.
Logan Foster answered with a two-run home run of his own and Doxakis settled in after that, tossing two more scoreless innings before being lifted for a reliever in the sixth.
"I thought he battled really well," Bedford said of Doxakis, who allowed three earned runs in five innings. "I thought he handled [the errors] well. He just keeps getting better and better every start and I think big things are going to come from him."
Kaylor Chafin allowed an RBI groundout and a two-run home run in the sixth, but Bedford cut the Aggies' deficit in half with a solo home run to left in the bottom of the inning.
After Cason Sherrod worked out of a jam in the seventh, Nolan Hoffman entered the game to begin the eighth to stymie any idea of a comeback. He threw two scoreless frames to lower his season ERA to 0.63 and record his sixth save of the season.
"I just made the call that if we get the lead, he's in the game," head coach Rob Childress said of using his closer for two innings. "It was just one of those nights where you feel like you have to do it. If we don't have him tomorrow, we don't have him tomorrow but you have to win [Game 1] first."
The Aggies tacked on plenty of insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth. George Janca started the frame with a single and, after Michael Helman and Foster each worked walks, Braden Shewmake plated two with an RBI that bounced over the first baseman's head. Hunter Coleman ripped an RBI single of his own moments later, and then Cole Bedford singled down the right-field line to score two more.
"The offense came alive tonight," Shewmake said. "That's what you should expect from us. I wouldn't say you should expect 12 runs every time, but a good offensive approach and a lot of team at-bats. I felt like we did that tonight and we were rewarded for it."
The teams return to Blue Bell Park for the second game of the series on Friday, with first pitch scheduled for 6:30 p.m.