Aggies conjure up Olsen Magic in 5-4 walk-off win over the Islanders

Game #14: Texas A&M 5, A&M-Corpus Christi 4
Records: A&M (11-3), A&M-CC (6-7)
WP: Bryce Miller (1-2)
LP: Henry Bird (0-2)
Box Score

After going (0-3) in the Frisco Classic last weekend, the A&M baseball team escaped a near-devastating midweek loss to A&M-Corpus Christi as Zane Schmidt hit a walk-off single down the third baseline with one out in the bottom of the ninth, scoring DeLoach from third. Schmidt’s walk-off hit clinched the Aggies’ 5-4 win over the Islanders on Tuesday night at Olsen Field.

“I had a little bit of a warning and I came in and got a 2-0 count right off the bat. I had a little bit of time to see a couple of pitches and eventually full-count fastball and I took it the other way,” Schmidt said. “I thought it might go foul but worst-case scenario I’m still up there, but it went right over the bag and I’m grateful for that.”

The A&M offense that had just nine hits in three games last weekend strung together a five-hit, three-run first inning against the Islanders with RBI’s from Hunter Coleman and Ray Alejo. The Aggies struggled to drive home runs for most of the game after that though, striking out nine times and leaving 12 men on base. 

Jamie Maury, TexAgs

Bryce Miller was able to get his first earned win of the season in the victory over the Islanders. 

“We just stayed at it. Coach always says ‘keep coming’ and I think we did that,” A&M first baseman Hunter Coleman said. “We were setting up a lot of innings and we couldn’t quite knock them down until Zane [Schmidt] came up and got the big hit. If you keep setting them up you are eventually going to knock them down.”

After two strong midweek starts, A&M starting pitcher Jonathan Childress had a tougher time with his pitching ability on Tuesday night, allowing four hits and one earned run in 1.2 innings of work. The second inning was extended due to an error as a ground ball slipped under the glove of Aggie shortstop Trevor Werner which resulted in two runs. A&M head coach Rob Childress pulled Childress in favor of LHP Dustin Saenz after just 32 pitches.

“[Childress’] stuff was not very crisp tonight, and give their hitters credit they barrelled everything up and maybe pushing him up a day and not keeping him up on a seven-day week is something he isn’t ready for,” coach Childress said. 

Saenz took over for Childress and struggled in the third inning, allowing three hits and another run, handing the Islanders a 4-3 lead. Saenz bounced back after his first two innings and put together a strong outing, allowing just one earned run and punching out after 4.2 innings pitched.

“[Dustin Saenz] was the difference in us winning the game. He was very, very good tonight,” Rob Childress said. “Maybe not super crisp in the first inning and a half, but after that he was outstanding and that’s one of the reasons we had a chance to win late.”

Though not the lopsided scoreline the Aggies have been posting against midweek opponents this season, Childress believes the close win and experiencing Olsen Magic will be more beneficial in the long run.

“It was so much more important for us to play a game like this and to come out on the winning side than it would be to come out and have a feel-good, runaway win and not have the stress and pressure of playing in a tight game than we did tonight.”

The Aggies will look to build off of tonight’s win tomorrow evening as they host Abilene Christian at Olsen Field. First pitch is slated for 6:32 p.m. and the game will be televised on SEC Network +.