Helman homers, Kilkenny wins again as Ags clinch series over Alabama

Game #35: Texas A&M 9, Alabama 6
Records: Texas A&M (26-9, 7-7 SEC), Alabama (21-15, 5-9 SEC)
WP: Mitchell Kilkenny (8-0)
LP: Jake Walters (2-4)
SV: Asa Lacy (1)
Box Score

Texas A&M clinched its second SEC series in a row on Friday night, defeating Alabama 9-6 in front of the home crowd at Olsen Field.

Michael Helman homered off the scoreboard in left as part of a five-run second inning and Mitchell Kilkenny made those runs stand up with a solid start on the mound. Kilkenny scattered six hits and one earned run over 5.2 innings to move to 8-0 on the season.

“They’re not all pretty, but our offense came out as hot as I’ve seen them this year,” Kilkenny said after the game. “Every time they scored, we scored. It was a great team win. They really picked me up when I needed it.”

Kilkenny, the NCAA leaders in wins, pitched around leadoff singles in each of the first two innings and the A&M offense went to work in the second. Hunter Coleman led off with a walk and then Will Frizzell singled to left. After tagging up on a flyout, Coleman scampered home on an RBI groundout by Zach DeLoach.

George Janca then reached on a hit-by-pitch, Cam Blake plated Frizzell with an RBI single and then Helman blasted a three-run dinger to left. Just like that, the Aggies were ahead 5-0 and cruised the rest of the way to a relatively easy victory.

“We’ve got some really good hitters starting to warm up,” head coach Rob Childress said. “I think everybody can see that and feel that, not only in the stands but in the dugout and the locker room.”

Alabama scored one run in the third on an RBI double by Hunter Alexander, but Kilkenny recovered to induce a first-pitch groundout to Joe Breaux to escape the inning without any further damage.

The Aggies tacked on a run in the third, fourth and fifth innings to extend their lead, and that was enough for the A&M pitching staff.

Cam Blake looked comfortable at the plate once again, going 2-for-4 with two runs scored and an RBI. The Aggies designated hitter is now hitting .353 and appears to be working his way into a full-time spot.

“I feel a lot better,” Blake said. “I’m just trying to keep everything as simple as I can and take my backside knocks and take whatever they give me.”

Kilkenny was lifted with two outs in the sixth after he allowed two men to reach base for Asa Lacy, who allowed one of the inherited runners to score on an RBI single to right but then settled down to put together a 3.1-inning relief appearance that earned him his first career save. 

“Kilkenny on short rest was real competitive,” Childress said. “He minimized damage and we made some really unbelievable plays to allow that to happen behind him, and Lacy came in and was really, really good.”

Childress also announced that Stephen Kolek will get the ball to start for the Aggies in the series finale.

With the victory, the Aggies have now won two SEC series in a row and will return to the diamond Saturday to try to win their sixth-straight game and notch their first sweep since the Long Beach State series in mid-March. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m. and the contest can be seen on the SEC Network +.