Game #41: Vanderbilt 11, No. 21 Texas A&M
1
Records: Texas A&M (26-15, 11-9), Vanderbilt (29-12, 10-10)
WP: Carter Holton (5-3)
LP: Micah Dallas (4-3)
Save: Christian Little (2)
Box Score
Control of the mound favored the Aggies on Thursday.
A day later, it became their biggest adversary.
Command issues yielded a nightmarish start from Micah Dallas, who faced an early and often offensive barrage that lifted Vanderbilt past No. 21 Texas A&M on Friday night in Nashville, 11-1.
Looking to match a quick eight-pitch first inning by Commodore starter Carter Holton, Dallas started with a pair of strikeouts before being tagged with back-to-back solo homers.
A leadoff walk and single plagued Dallas in the second inning before two straight wild pitches and Vanderbilt’s third home run made it a 5-0 game.
“It’s one loss. Winning 23-9 against Georgia, 17-3 against Kentucky, that’s one win, it’s not five wins. Each game has their own value and it’s way more about how we respond. So, we’ll see tomorrow.”
- A&M head coach Jim Schlossnagle
“We got our rear ends kicked from the first pitch in every sense of the word,” Texas A&M head coach Jim Schlossnagle said. “Their freshman [Holton] went out there and attacked the strike zone and completely controlled the pace of the game.”
The Aggie right-hander concluded his night after coughing up two more runs through the third and fourth, conceding seven total runs and eight of the Commodore’s 11 hits in a short-lived outing.
Wyatt Tucker and Xavier Lovett were both turned to in relief as Vanderbilt would tack on four more runs to finish off A&M’s most lopsided loss since losing to Santa Clara 16-5 in early March.
“Micah got some balls up, and they did damage early, and we never threatened,” Schlossnagle said. “It’s been a while since we’ve had our rear ends kicked like that. I can’t even remember, Santa Clara?”
Offensively, the night was marred by missed opportunities.
They narrowly escaped their first shutout of the season in the sixth inning as Troy Claunch drew a leadoff walk before later scoring on a sacrifice fly from Jordan Thompson.
In all, the Aggies left 11 runners aboard and were 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position and 0-for-2 with bases loaded.
Andrew Nelles / Tennessean.com
Each of the Commodore’s first six runs was scored with two outs.
The Aggies never could find a late lifeline at the plate, ultimately finishing with five hits.
Texas A&M is 3-2 in five consecutive rubber matches in conference play as they battle for yet another all-important series win in tomorrow’s game three.
“It’s one loss. Winning 23-9 against Georgia, 17-3 against Kentucky, that’s one win, it’s not five wins,” Schlossnagle said. “Each game has their own value, and it’s way more about how we respond.
“So, we’ll see tomorrow.”
The first pitch is scheduled for 2:02 p.m. CT. A starting pitcher for the Aggies has not been named at the moment.