Aggies jump out early, never look back in 6-2 win over No. 4 Razorbacks
Game #45: No. 16 Texas A&M 6, No. 4 Arkansas 2
Records: Arkansas (40-14, 20-9), Texas A&M (35-19-1, 15-13-1)
WP: John Doxakis (7-3)
LP: Patrick Wicklander (5-2)
Box Score
A&M came out of the gate hot and never relented, evening the season-ending series with Arkansas on Friday night.
In a battle of utmost importance for Texas A&M’s regional hosting chances, the Aggies jumped to an early lead, kept the pressure on offensively, and wiggled out of danger on the mound en route to a 6-2 victory over the No. 4 Razorbacks. John Doxakis was strong on the mound and key swings from A&M’s biggest bats forced a rubber match on Saturday morning.
After a scoreless top half of the inning from Arkansas, Braden Shewmake saw just one pitch before hitting a no-doubter of a home run to left to give A&M a 1-0 lead. The Olsen Field crowd hardly had a chance to catch their breath before Bryce Blaum hit a solo shot of his own to right, quickly pushing it to 2-0 in favor of the Maroon & White.
“That’s what we preach is just punching first,” left-handed starter John Doxakis said. “You’re not expecting two leadoff home runs like that so it’s nice to see it.”
Texas A&M would add two more in the second inning on a Braden Shewmake double down the right field line that very narrowly missed being his second homer of the game. The Aggie shortstop would finish the day 2-for-4 with three RBIs.
“It’s definitely not for me,” Shewmake said following the game. “It’s all for the team. Coach talked about getting off to a good start and we did that today. It was everybody.”
Down 4-0 in the fourth inning, Arkansas punched back in the form of a Jack Kenley two-run homer over the visitors’ bullpen in right to cut the lead in half. However, A&M would answer right back with an RBI single from Bryce Blaum in the bottom of the inning. Still, the Aggies were not out of the woods yet.
With A&M leading 5-2 in top of the sixth, Arkansas tallied back-to-back singles. Then Bryce Blaum booted a tailor-made double play ball at second. Doxakis took over.
“Dox turned to us and said, ‘I got you,’” Shewmake said. “He turns around and strikes two guys out.”
Doxakis would then exit the game with the bases still loaded and two outs in the sixth. A&M’s ace finished with eight strikeouts on the evening. The Ags would call on their most reliable arm out of the bullpen in Bryce Miller.
“It was time (to pull Doxakis),” A&M head coach Rob Childress said. “He did everything we asked him to do.”
Miller toed the rubber and fired three pitches past Arkansas’ Jordan McFarland to retire the side as the Aggies tip-toed out of danger.
“It’s a lot of fun,” Miller said. “That’s what you look forward to coming out of the bullpen in high pressure situations. I was excited.”
The Aggies would add another run in the seventh on an RBI double from Logan Foster to make it 6-2. Foster would make his presence felt again in the top of the eighth when he gunned down an Arkansas base runner at third trying to go first-to-third on a single to right.
“Fabulous throw,” Childress raved. “Another momentum play and we had a lot of those today. We were able to take the momentum away from them.”
Texas A&M would turn to Joseph Menefee to get the final five outs of the night, all five of which he registered via strikeouts to clinch the 6-2 victory for the Ags.
The Aggies are not wanting to leave a regional host bid up for grabs on Saturday.
“We don’t want to leave anything up to the committee,” said Childress. “We need to go play well, number one. Number two: we have the opportunity to go win a series at home and finish the regular season, SEC play, the right way. You couldn’t ask for more.”
Texas A&M and Arkansas will play the deciding contest of the three game set Saturday morning beginning at 11:00 a.m. at Olsen Field at Blue Bell Park.