Trio of Aggie freshman hurlers combine to beat Houston Baptist, 3-2

Game #8: Texas A&M 3, Houston Baptist 2
Records: Texas A&M (6-2, 0-0), Houston Baptist (2-7, 0-0)
WP: Khristian Curtis (2-0)
LP: Austin Spinney (0-1)
Save: Brad Rudis (1)
Box Score

A trio of young arms atoned for lack of timely hitting.

Texas A&M eked by Houston Baptist with a 3-2 win in Tuesday’s midweek clash at Olsen Field at Blue Bell Park behind strong pitching performances from three first-year arms.

Starting pitcher Khristian Curtis held the visiting Huskies off the board across five scoreless innings, turning in an impressive performance with three strikeouts while only allowing two hits.

“Second time being out here. The first time is definitely a bit nerve rack, but I just had to compete. That’s all you can do,” Curtis said. “Today, the fastball command was there in the first inning.

“Just got to work on throwing sliders with intent.”

The Aggies had tallied only one hit entering the bottom of the fourth when Brett Minnich deposited a solo home run right into the HBU bullpen to finally break the ice.

With two outs in the bottom of the fifth, Jack Moss ripped a two-run double into the left-field corner to extend A&M’s lead to 3-0.

The runs were long overdue.

“It doesn’t really matter how hard the guy is throwing. We’re going to face all kinds of speeds. We play in the SEC,” Moss said. “It’s still hitting. Doesn’t matter if the guy is throwing 100 or 80, you still got to hit and find some grass.”

True freshman Chris Cortez relieved Curtis in the sixth, and the Huskies were handed an opportunity to answer.

Designated hitter Brennen Bales lined a ball down the left-field line just past Kole Kaler’s diving backhand for a double. After advancing to third on a wild pitch, he eventually scored to give the Huskies their first run in the top of the sixth.

Needing an answer, A&M worked three straight walks. However, the Aggies failed to clear the bases and left them loaded — continuing a frustrating night for the bats.

“Not what we were planning to do, but we haven’t swung the bat well with runners in scoring position yet, and that was two more bad at-bats,” Texas A&M head coach Jim Schlossnagle said.

Texas A&M stranded eight runners in total.

“The pressure in that situation relies on the pitcher, not the hitter,” Schlossnagle said. “Hitters search for hits, and if you’ve seen most of those hits — Kalae [Harrison] swung at a ball, and that’s guys pressing. If you do that in baseball, boy, you get eaten up really quick, and that’s where we are right now.

Brooke Homfeld, TexAgs

Brad Rudis earned his first career save, working two scoreless innings to close the ballgame.

“Luckily, we won the game, but because we pitched and played good defense. But we got to be a lot better real quick.”

Houston Baptist cut the lead to one with a sacrifice fly in the top of the seventh.

In his third appearance of the season, true freshman Brad Rudis was called upon to close for the Maroon & White in the top of the eighth.

Rudis didn’t disappoint, facing seven batters and striking out four to secure the narrow win.

Without a doubt, the matchup served as a crucial moment towards developing the three young pitchers.

“A win is a win. It doesn’t matter who you play. It’s all we care about is coming out with a win at the end of the game,” Curtis said. “Us being able to close — all being freshmen — it’s a good thing, shows us stuff for the future. Being able to come out and complete and close games.

“If we continue to do that, it’s going to be really good for us in the future.”

The Aggies will begin play in the three-day-long Frisco Classic this Friday vs. Washington State.