Game #6: Texas A&M 5, Penn 0
Records: Texas A&M (5-1, 0-0), Penn (1-1, 0-0)
WP: Micah Dallas (2-0)
LP: Joe Miller (0-1)
Box Score
Game #7: Penn 8, Texas A&M 5
Records: Texas A&M (5-2, 0-0), Penn (2-1, 0-0)
WP: Brandon Bean (1-0)
LP: Joseph Menefee (0-1)
Box Score
Sunday split.
Texas A&M split a Sunday doubleheader with the Penn Quakers as the Aggies suffered their first series loss of 2022. The Aggies took the opener 5-0 before fumbling the nightcap, 8-5.
"We got a long way to go, obviously... We got great starting pitching. We just left a lot of runs on bases."
- A&M head coach Jim Schlossnagle
"We got a long way to go, obviously," Texas A&M head coach Jim Schlossnagle said. "We got great starting pitching. We just left a lot of runs on bases."
A three-run first to begin the day was more than enough run support for Micah Dallas, who tossed an absolute gem in game one.
Dallas dazzled across eight scoreless innings, striking out ten Quakers and allowing just one hit.
"It was all working pretty well for me," Dallas said. "I was able to get ahead with my fastball and my slider, too."
The lone hit against Dallas came on the first pitch of the ballgame as Tommy Courtney singled to left. The only other baserunner was Seth Werchan via third-inning walk as Dallas retired the last 17 men he faced.
"I don't even know where we'd be without that," Schlossnagle said of Dallas' performance.
That outing, along with two more runs in the bottom of the fifth, helped Schlossnagle preserve his bullpen for the nightcap, which the Aggies needed.
The Maroon & White stranded eight runners, failing to capitalize on all their offensive opportunities in game one.
Dominant pitching but an overall lack of timely hitting were recurring themes in game two but with a much more disappointing outcome.
Ryan Prager sparkled in 5.2 innings of work, giving up just one run on three hits while striking out eight Quakers. The lone run against Prager came via a Wyatt Henseler home run in the fourth inning.
"I just went out there and was me," Prager said. "Fastball command was a lot better, which is my bread and butter. Everything else plays off of that."
Unfortunately for Prager, his offense stranded 13 runners and the bullpen collapsed in the late innings, preventing him from earning his first collegiate win.
TexAgs
Ryan Prager is still searching for his first career victory after the Aggie bullpen blew a 5-1 lead.
"In the end of the day, we lost the game, and it doesn't really matter," Prager said of being saddled with a no-decision.
Despite receiving 13 free bases (12 walks and one HBP), the Aggie offense squandered multiple chances to put the game away. A&M batters struck out 23 times in the two games combined.
"We won the free-base war by 30 and lost the game," Schlossnagle said. "Holy cow. We punched out 34 times in 27 innings."
Trailing 5-1 after six, Penn scored one in the seventh and one in the eighth before a disastrous ninth saw five Quakers cross the plate.
"Certainly, the bullpen fell apart there at the end, but it all adds on top of itself," Schlossnagle said.
Flirting with disaster in the eighth, Brad Rudis and Joseph Menefee punched out back-to-back batters to leave the bases loaded.
In his second appearance of the day, Menefee ran out of gas in the ninth and departed with the bases loaded and just one out. Alex Magers served up a bases-clearing, lead-squandering double to Craig Larsen — the first batter he faced.
Schlossnagle used seven relievers behind Prager to get the game's final ten outs, including another lackluster performance from Jacob Palisch.
"We're learning a lot more about each other, for sure," Schlossnagle said.
The learning will continue on Tuesday night when Texas A&M hosts HBU at Olsen Field.
