Offensive barrage continues as No. 20 A&M clinches opening series over Miami (OH) 9-2
Game #2: No. 20 Texas A&M 9, Miami (OH) 2
Records: Texas A&M (2-0), Miami (0-2)
WP: Christian Roa (1-0)
LP: Tyler Bosma (0-1)
After an explosive offensive performance in their season opener on Friday night, the No. 20 A&M baseball team followed up the effort with a 15-hit, 9-2 win over Miami (OH) on Saturday afternoon at Olsen Field to clinch the series.
“Scoring runs at this level is incredibly hard, and our guys showed up with an incredible approach,” A&M head coach Rob Childress said. “To score runs, you have to do a lot of things right, and I’ve felt like the last few days we have done a lot of things together as one offense.”
The A&M bats got after Miami starting pitcher Tyler Bosma early, as two-hole Logan Sartori hammered a fastball over the left-field wall in the bottom of the first. Sartori went 2-for-4 and put together a strong performance in the game.
However, the bigger story of the game was the depth the Aggies’ displayed at the plate as each starter recorded a hit.
“We preach that we’re all here for a reason. Everybody in the lineup can swing the bat, and we have five or six guys ready in the dugout who can do the same thing,” Sartori said. “Whoever Coach (Childress) puts in the lineup, we are going to play our best game.”
The plate success of A&M designated hitter Will Frizzell may be the most promising sign for the new-approach Aggie bats. Frizzell finished the afternoon 2-for-4, with an RBI double to left-center and a solo home run that he crushed over the center-field wall. The junior hit a grand slam on Friday night and his recovery from a knee injury and new plate approach are generating early returns.
“Just the fact that he’s in an Aggie baseball uniform is a miracle in itself. With surgery that he had early last summer, the likelihood of him being back on the baseball field wasn’t great,” Childress said. “To be playing at the level that he is, it’s a blessing and huge for our team.”
A&M right-hander Christian Roa put together an impressive performance in his first start of the season, allowing just three hits, two runs and tallying a career-high 12 strikeouts in six innings of work. The junior showed strong command with his four-pitch mix, and his fastball topped out in the 95-97 mph range.
“He was on the attack from his first pitch to his last pitch. He could have gone back out there for the seventh inning real easily,” Childress said. “He had his four-pitch mix. You have to give him an A+ for his performance. He was special today.”
Unlike Friday’s lopsided performance, the Aggies and RedHawks were deadlocked at 2-2 through four innings.
The Aggies were getting runners on base but struggled to convert their hits into runs. They eventually wore down the Miami bullpen and plated seven runs in the next three innings.
“When you win the sixth, seventh and eighth and get into their bullpen, that’s when you win games,” Sartori said. “We played really fast, and we executed really well with two outs. We did everything that our offense does. We executed what we needed to get done, and the end result was nine runs.”
The No. 20 Aggies will be back in action against the RedHawks on Sunday afternoon, with first pitch slated for 12:00 p.m. at Olsen Field. Chandler Jozwiak is set to take the bump as the Aggies look to sweep their first series of the season.