Aggies stumble in regular season finale, fall to South Carolina, 10-1
Game #55: South Carolina 10, Texas A&M 1
Records: South Carolina (32-22, 17-13 SEC), Texas A&M (36-19, 13-17 SEC)
WP: Cody Morris (7-3)
LP: Stephen Kolek (5-6)
Box Score
Texas A&M ended its regular season in disappointing fashion Saturday afternoon at Olsen Field, dropping the series finale 10-1 to No. 25 South Carolina.
The Gamecocks jumped on Stephen Kolek for four runs in the first inning and tacked on four more in the third, basically taking the wind out of the Aggies’ sails.
“They came out ready to go,” head coach Rob Childress said after the game. “His stuff was outstanding, everything was just elevated and out over the plate. South Carolina’s hitters were ready to go and when you’re chasing four runs, it’s an uphill climb.”
Noah Campbell led off the game with a solo home run to right and, after a walk to Carlos Cortes, Madison Stokes made it 3-0 with a bomb to left-center. Two more hits resulted in another run for the Gamecocks in the opening frame.
The Aggies got one of those runs back in the first as Michael Helman singled and Logan Foster followed by reaching on an error. Both runners moved up on a flyout and then Chris Andritsos plated Helman with a sacrifice fly to center, but Aaron Walters flied out to right to end the frame.
“We came right back in the first inning and had a chance to answer with a few runs,” Andritsos said. “We answer with one and then we just let it get away.”
Kolek worked a scoreless second, but then gave up a single and a double in the third to end his day. Chandler Jozwiak relieved him but couldn’t escape the jam before both inherited runners and two more Gamecocks crossed the plate.
Dustin Saenz came in next and tossed three scoreless innings of relief, but the Aggie offense couldn’t muster any offense to reduce the deficit.
A&M threatened in the fourth when Andritsos and Zach DeLoach singled to put runners on the corners with two outs, but George Janca lined out to right to end the inning. Andritsos singled again in the sixth, but the next two batters flied out to cap off another scoreless frame.
“They jumped on us early today and it’s hard to chase runs,” DeLoach said. “South Carolina had solid offense and solid pitching today, so I think we just have to compete a little bit better in the future.”
Andritsos finished with a 2-for-3 day with a walk and an RBI, while DeLoach went 2-for-4.
After a shaky first inning, South Carolina starter Cody Morris suffocated the Aggies. He scattered five hits over seven dominant innings before reliever Sawyer Bridges finished the game.
The loss marks the final game of the regular season for the Aggies. Next up is the SEC Tournament, which begins Tuesday in Hoover, Alabama.
“We’re going to do everything we can to go win on Tuesday,” Childress said, “and get into the eight-team double-elimination tournament and do everything we can to fight and go win a trophy.
“We just need to go play good — play good for nine innings and let the scoreboard take care of itself. We’ve won 36 games during the regular season so we’ve done that more often than not, and that’s what we need to get back to doing.”