John Doxakis brilliant as Aggies topple Auburn in SEC Tournament, 4-2

Game #58: Texas A&M 4, Auburn 2
Records: Texas A&M (39-19, 16-17 SEC), Auburn (39-20, 15-15 SEC)
WP: John Doxakis (7-5)
LP: Casey Mize (9-5)
SV: Nolan Hoffman (14)
Box Score

The Aggies continued their string of excellent baseball Thursday night, beating Auburn 4-2 as John Doxakis took a no-hitter into the eighth inning and Zach DeLoach went 3-for-3 with two RBI.

Doxakis scattered two hits and a run over 7.1 sterling innings, striking out 10 and walking one, outdueling heralded Auburn ace Casey Mize to send the Aggies into the SEC Tournament semifinals.

“You know it’s going to be a low-scoring game anytime you’ve got someone like him going, but I know when I’m at my best I can beat anyone,” Doxakis said after the game. “The biggest thing is confidence when you’re going against somebody that good.

“Fastball command was a lot better than it’s ever been," he continued. "I was able to get ground balls in big situations because the defense behind me was awesome. When you have that behind you, you know you can go up there and throw all your pitches for strikes and give yourself a chance.”

Conventional wisdom suggested Mitchell Kilkenny would get the start on the mound for the Aggies since he has been the Friday night starter since late April, but head coach Rob Childress went with Doxakis, a move that paid off in spades.

“He made me look awful good — he couldn’t have pitched any better than he did,” Childress said. “He was very competitive, he really wanted the ball against them and certainly didn’t disappoint.”

The Aggies got on the board against Mize, who will be one of the first players chosen in June’s MLB Draft, in the third as George Janca singled up the middle, moved to second on a wild pitch and then scored on an RBI single by DeLoach.

With a one-run lead, Doxakis did not let up. He did not allow a baserunner until the fifth inning and he did not let a Tiger get to third base until the last batter he faced in the game hit an RBI double to center. With his pitch count at 103 and the Aggies clinging to a 3-1 lead, he handed the ball over to closer Nolan Hoffman, who induced two groundouts to escape the frame without any further damage.

Then Hoffman came back in the ninth and pitched around two errors to lock down his 14th save of the season, tying the A&M school record in the process.

“I knew his psycho self would be able to shut it down,” secon baseman Michael Helman said of Hoffman. “It got a little nerve-racking at the end, but I knew he would get it done.”

Brian Okosun

Zach DeLoach went 3-for-3 out of the leadoff spot for the Aggies with two RBI and a run scored. 

A&M broke the game open in the sixth. DeLoach reached on a one-out infield single, moved to third on a single by Helman and then Braden Shewmake plated both of them by ripping a hanging slider from Mize down the right-field line for a two-run double.

The Aggies added another run in the eighth on a sac fly by DeLoach, knocking Mize out of the game and giving A&M a 4-1 lead it did not relinquish.

“We were on the attack all night and never really let him breathe,” said Helman, who went 1-for-4 with a run scored. “I think we did a great job at driving in runs when we had runners in scoring positions and just moving guys around. Our offense was outstanding, our pitching was outstanding and we just played a great game — probably the best game we could have played.”

For DeLoach, his big day has been in the making for a while as he has hit a slew of balls hard in recent weeks that have found gloves instead of green grass. He singled off Mize to lead off the first, drove in one in the fourth with a single to right-center, singled and scored in the sixth and then ended Mize’s night with a hard-hit sacrifice fly in the eighth.

“He had a great night. He got some pitches to hit and he didn’t miss them,” Childress said of DeLoach. “You’re only going to get one an at-bat against Casey Mize. Other pitchers you may get a couple, but with him you get one shot, and if you don’t get him in one shot in that at-bat, you’re in for a rude at-bat. He was able to not miss the pitches that he did get to hit.”

The Aggies’ third win in a row puts them in the tournament semifinals. They will not have to play on Friday and will meet the winner of Ole Miss-Auburn on Saturday at noon, with the winner of that game moving to the championship.

“I think we’re in a wonderful place,” Childress concluded. “We just need to come out Saturday and play as good as we can play to have a shot on Sunday.”