No small victory: Timely hitting in late innings salvages series win for A&M

Game #15: Texas A&M 5, Santa Clara 2
Records: Texas A&M (10-5, 0-0), Santa Clara (9-6, 0-0)
WP: Jacob Palisch (2-1)
LP: Alex Reelfs (1-2)
Box Score

After a 16-5 loss to Santa Clara on Saturday evening, Jim Schlossnagle spoke about the search of “small victories” for a scuffling Texas A&M baseball team.

“A small victory right now would be for us to win a series since we’ve lost the last two,” Schlossnagle said on Saturday.

Message received.

Thanks to timely hitting in the seventh and eighth innings, the Aggies bounced back to take the Sunday finale over the Broncos, 5-2, earning the club’s first series victory since Opening Weekend against Fordham.

“It's been a long time since I've been as proud of a team as I am of these guys today,” Schlossnagle said. “It’s ugly. It's not the way you want to draw it up, but we'll take it.”

Tied 2-2 in the bottom of the seventh, Logan Britt doubled to the right-field corner with two outs, bringing true freshman Austin Stracener’s spot in the order to the plate.

Schlossnagle elected to have Dylan Rock pinch-hit.

“He has been in that situation a couple of different times and come through,” Schlossnagle said.

The move paid off.

Just like Britt before him, Rock slashed a double into the very same right-field corner, giving the Aggies a lead they never relinquished.

“It's just go out there, compete and do my job," Rock said. "It’s the same mentality. I guess it just comes together whenever I pinch-hit.”

An inning later, Brett Minnich delivered another two-out hit, scoring two crucial insurance runs.

“I'm really proud of this team," Minnich said. “We fought through a lot today and through this last weekend really. Every small victory, we'll take it.”

The late rally was necessary after another bullpen disaster turned six scoreless innings from Ryan Prager into a footnote.

Yanked after walking the first batter he faced in the seventh, Prager did more than enough to earn his first collegiate victory, which still eludes him. The freshman left-hander allowed just two hits and struck out three, departing with a 2-0 lead.

“I didn’t strike out a lot of guys, but we missed barrels and got outs and gave our team a chance to win," Prager said.

TexAgs

Ryan Prager worked into the seventh and allowed just one run but still ended up with a no-decision.

In relief, Brad Rudis walked a man before a sacrifice bunt put the tying run in scoring position.

Schlossnagle then called upon Joseph Menefee, who was dreadful. The left-handed reliever plunked Efrain Manzo with his very first pitch to load the bases. After getting the second out of the seventh, Menefee walked back-to-back batters to tie the game and leave Prager with a third-consecutive no-decision.

“We kind of shoot ourselves in the foot in the top of the seventh, but the ability to persevere and come back and keep the fight,” Prager said. "The ability to squeak by a win, win the series this weekend... It’s huge leading into Tuesday and then conference play getting started.”

Fortunately, Jacob Palisch escaped the bases-loaded threat with the score tied. The Stanford transfer then tossed two more scoreless innings to earn the victory.

Prager was locked in a pitcher’s duel with Jared Feikes early as the game remained scoreless through three innings.

Austin Bost — who finished 2-for-3 with a walk — finally cracked the scoreboard with a solo blast in the fourth. A Feikes' balk in the sixth scored Kaler.

Then came the late-inning craziness en route to a not-so-small series victory for these banged-up Aggies, who are slated to begin SEC play next weekend at LSU.

“I've said all along that I like the makeup of our team in terms that they're good people," Schlossnagle said. “We have to find more competitive grit, and that was an example of it. Maybe we'll get more of that down the road.”

Texas A&M hosts Houston on Tuesday night before traveling to Baton Rouge next weekend.