No. 5 Aggies suffer third consecutive loss as Portland clinches series
Game #6: Portland 4, No. 5 Texas A&M 1
Records: Texas A&M (3-3), Portland (5-1)
WP: Jacob Dobmeier (1-0)
LP: Troy Wansing (0-1)
Save: Peter Allegrio (1)
Box Score
Even with all the right people in all the right places, the Aggies just couldn’t find relief — from their bullpen or offense.
In a script reminiscent of their previous two losses, fifth-ranked Texas A&M fell flat against Portland as the Pilots clinched the weekend series with a 4-1 victory on Saturday afternoon at Blue Bell Park.
The Aggies now slump to 3-3 on the young season.
“It’s still the same story,” A&M head coach Jim Schlossnagle lamented postgame. “When you’re not scoring a ton of runs, then every single pitch and every single at-bat is so magnified. The job of a relief pitcher, we talk about this from day one in the fall, is you got to get out the first guy you face.”
The story does feel eerily similar.
Aside from their recent ineptitude, this weekend one year ago, the Aggies lost what was thought to be a surefire series win over Penn. Incidentally, that was also the last time A&M dropped a non-conference series.
A&M’s bats — figured to be a formidable force — hasn’t quite met the production expectations as fast as they would have liked to and seem like the obvious culprit in their recent struggles.
They were outhit for the third straight game and batted just 7-of-33 (.212) as a team. In fact, the Aggies have been outhit 30-16 since Tuesday’s flop against Lamar.
When it mattered most, the Ags were just 1-of-10 with runners in scoring position, stranding 11 on the day — including two in the ninth inning when Austin Bost struck out looking to end the game.
“We got the right guys on base. We got the right guys on the plate,” Schlossnagle said. “If you had told me you’re down three runs and you got Austin Bost at the plate, on a neutral wind day with two guys on, I would have said, ‘OK, I’ll take my chances with that.’”
They had another chance to mount a comeback in the seventh, but Jace LaViolette’s hard-hit fly ball died in the outfield with two aboard to relinquish any pent-up momentum.
“We’ve got a lot of guys that care. They want to do well for the team. They want to do well for the fans and everybody because we work really hard to be put in this situation,” junior shortstop Hunter Haas said, who led A&M’s offense with a perfect 3-for-3 showing at the plate. “I’m not worried. We’re going to get it rolling. It’s going to be fun to watch, and I can’t wait ‘til we get it rolling, but it’s coming sooner than you think. I know that for a fact.”
Haas and Jordan Thompson accounted for five of the team’s seven hits as the rest of the lineup struggled to make contact with offspeed pitches.
Perhaps the lone bright spot of the day, Purdue transfer Troy Wansing tossed a career-high nine strikeouts in 5.1 innings of work but was burdened with his first loss of the season. The same rhythm he established on the mound wouldn’t carry over as the Aggies ran through four different relievers without receiving impactful results.
“I think it’s a little bit of nerves, but I know we’re going to figure that out,” Wansing said. “That’s one thing that I am 100 percent confident in, is that this pitching staff is really good. When it comes down to it in May, June, when it matters, we’ll pitch the ball well.”
Nich Klemp — who batted 3-for-5 for the Pilots — smashed a standing leadoff double to right field and eventually crossed the plate on an RBI single by Christian Cooney to break the seal in the fourth inning.
Thompson responded in the bottom of the frame with an RBI single through the left side, but that was all the run support the Aggies would find.
The Pilots took control of the lead on Spencer Scott’s two-run double in the sixth before they finally capped the score via a wild pitch in the ninth.
That deficit proved too much to overcome with A&M’s stagnant offense, and the search for answers continues.
“It’s like life. You get tested, and you don’t understand why,” Schlossnagle said. “Certainly, you can point to reasons why you think we should be better or win more games or have won more games, but I’m not giving up on these kids. We’re seven games into the season. We got a lot of baseball to play.
“But that’s not discounting that we don’t have a sense of urgency to win because we know how important this game is.”