No. 15 Texas A&M falls to No. 14 Louisville in Shriners Classic opener, 14-5
Game #9: No. 14 Louisville 14, No. 15 Texas A&M 5
Records: Texas A&M (5-4), Louisville (8-1)
WP: Ryan Hawks (3-0)
LP: Nathan Dettmer (0-1)
Box Score
HOUSTON — Forgetful “fricking” Friday.
No. 15 Texas A&M appeared completely overmatched on the opening night of the Shriners Children’s College Classic as No. 14 Louisville outclassed the Aggies, 14-5, at Minute Maid Park in Houston.
“We played really bad,” A&M head coach Jim Schlossnagle said. “I thought Louisville came out with a complete game. They had to sit over there and watch that fricking pregame video of us winning last year, and you could tell they were ready to play.”
In a rematch of last year’s College Station Super Regional, Louisville left no doubt en route to revenge.
Starting on the mound for the Cardinals, right-hander Ryan Hawks befuddled A&M’s already struggling offense for six scoreless innings. The Louisville ace utilized a sinker-slider combo to rack up eight strikeouts, including a run of six consecutive hitters.
“I thought Hawks was the story of the game, to be honest with you,” Schlossnagle said. “He attacked the strike zone with two different kinds of fastballs. He threw his breaking ball for strikes enough. Guys chased at some.
“They have a good team.”
In total, Aggie hitters struck out 11 times and managed just six hits, most of which came after the ballgame was out of reach.
A&M finally cracked the scoreboard in the seventh, putting up five. Austin Bost’s three-run homer into the Crawford Boxes punctuated the frame and avoided what would’ve been A&M’s first run-rule in a decade.
However, it was far too little, far too late.
Nathan Dettmer’s struggles started immediately as Christian Knapczyk and Jack Payton led off the game with back-to-back doubles as the Cardinals scratched three runs in the first and another in the second.
“Even in the first inning, he had two strikes, and he couldn’t finish them off,” Schlossnagle said of Dettmer. “He couldn’t get a strikeout when we needed a strikeout.
“He has thrown better than that. He’s allowed to have a bad day too, but we can’t just quit when the starting pitcher has a bad day.”
Dettmer only mustered six outs as his ERA ballooned from 0.82 to 3.46, allowing six runs (four earned) on four hits.
Louisville added two unearned markers in the third courtesy of Jack Moss’ error to begin the frame.
“We haven’t gotten off to a great start to the season, but this is the first game we really played for the most part poorly in all phases,” Schlossnagle said.
As if the outcome wasn’t already settled, the Cardinals scored eight in a top of the fifth that lasted 34 minutes. Evan Aschenbeck, Robert Hogan and Matt Dillard each toed the rubber in the dreadful frame.
“We just played about as bad as we could play, and Louisville played awesome,” Schlossnagle said.
The Aggies’ stay in the Bayou City continues Saturday with their first of three meetings with Rice this year. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. CT.
“We got to get back after them tomorrow,” Schlossnagle said. “No one is going to feel sorry for us.”
