Great finish! Must be a huge confidence boost to this team! Gonna be a fun season!
Jim Schlossnagle
Hayden Schott
Justin Lamkin
Texas A&M Baseball
Schott delivers 10th-inning Olsen Magic as No. 7 A&M survives scare
Game #16: No. 7 Texas A&M 12, Rhode Island 11 (10 innings)
Records: Texas A&M (16-0), Rhode Island (2-10)
WP: Evan Aschenbeck (2-0)
LP: Kenny Heon (0-1)
Box Score
For the first time in 2024, magic happened.
Olsen Magic, that is.
With the game knotted in the tenth inning, Hayden Schott delivered a walk-off single to right field on the first pitch he saw as No. 7 Texas A&M swept Rhode Island with a 12-11 victory on Sunday.
“I don’t know what I was thinking,” Schott said. “I kinda just blanked, I was like, ‘Stick to my approach, see a fastball.’
“I figured that they were gonna try to get one over 0-0, so I was like, ‘Don’t miss it if they do’. I knew that all we needed was a base hit and I wasn't trying to do too much and it worked out.
Schott’s walk-off was the first of his career. He said it’s something he will never forget.
“It was pretty unbelievable,” Schott said. “I’ll never forget it, ever.”
Though Olsen Magic was required for the Maroon & White to come out on top, early on it appeared they would cruise to their 16th straight victory after leading 7-0 by the fifth inning.
However, Rhode Island had other plans.
Highlighted by an eight-run seventh, the Rams scored 11 unanswered runs to take a surprising 11-7 lead.
“I don’t know what I was thinking. I kinda just blanked, I was like, ‘Stick to my approach, see a fastball.’ I figured that they were gonna try to get one over 0-0, so I was like, ‘Don’t miss it if they do’. I knew that all we needed was a base hit and I wasn't trying to do too much and it worked out.”
A&M quickly fell behind for its largest deficit of the season and stared its first loss in the face.
“I’m proud of our team for not cashing in that game because it would have been very easy to cash in,” A&M head coach Jim Schlossnagle said.
In the bottom of the seventh, the Aggies began their climb back as Jace LaViolette walked with the bases loaded to bring home a run. In the eighth, Ted Burton launched a solo home run to left field.
Burton finished the day 3-for-5 with a walk and three RBIs.
The top of the order led off the ninth for the Aggies, who needed at least two runs to stay alive.
After Gavin Grahovac struck out, LaViolette walked and Braden Montgomery doubled down the right-field line.
Schott grounded out to the pitcher in his next at-bat, which scored LaViolette and brought the Aggies within one run.
Despite having an opportunity to do more damage in the ninth, Schott didn’t let his groundout affect him when it came time to play hero in the tenth.
“I got jammed,” Schott said. “With my approach that is hitting the ball the other way, sometimes that happens, so I didn't really think too much of that. I have a pretty short memory of baseball.
“I love the show Ted Lasso, so he says ‘Be a goldfish.’ They have the shortest memory in the Animal Kingdom so I tried to be a goldfish and forget what happened last at-bat.”
Kelii Horvath, TexAgs
Along with his first Olsen Magic moment, Hayden Schott finished 4-for-7 with two RBIs.
Back-to-back walks to Burton and Jackson Appel followed Schott as Caden Sorrell — the tying run — came in to score on a bases-loaded walk.
“I thought [Caden] Sorrell’s at-bat was awesome,” Schlossnagle said. “To be put in that scenario in front of a big crowd. Our crowd was awesome, by the way. I need to compliment them. The 12th Man certainly played a role in that.
“We were able to keep pushing the bat down the line, so our guys did a great job playing pitch-to-pitch.”
Evan Aschenbeck struck out the side in the top of the tenth inning, keeping the game tied and setting up Schott for his heroics.
“You can always count on him,” Justin Lamkin said of Aschenbeck. “That’s the right guy for the right time, especially in any game and any situation. I knew he’d do what he did. I’m super proud of him.”
Although the circumstances of the late innings may overshadow the start of the game, Lamkin's outing on the mound is more than noteworthy.
“I felt really confident with all three of my pitches. They were all working for me,” Lamkin said. “I just went out there knowing if I win the 0-0, the important counts and dominate the zone, I would be good.”
The sophomore out of Corpus Christi racked up a career-high in strikeouts with 11 across 5.2 innings of work, allowing one earned run on two hits and a walk. Lamkin attributed much of his success to his slider low in the zone.
Kelii Horvath, TexAgs
Now 16-0, Texas A&M remains the only undefeated team in the entire Southeastern Conference.
Lamkin surrendered his lone run in his last at-bat when URI shortstop Evan Moroney hit a solo home run — marking the Rams' first run of the series.
Other than giving up the long ball to Moroney, Lamkin had Rhode Island’s hitters number all afternoon.
“The way they swung the bat the rest of the game shows you what a good job [Lamkin] did,” Schlossnagle said.
The Aggies would have liked to keep their early lead, but with Southeastern Conference play beginning next week, a game in which they had to battle back may be considered a positive in the long run.
“It’s a good thing for our team to have to go through something like that because it's certainly going to happen again during the course of the season when you have to battle back or play an extra-inning game,” Schlossnagle said.
A&M’s starting pitcher felt the same way as his skipper.
“We’re gonna face challenges and ups and downs so it’s good to have these moments and get over them,” Lamkin said.
One final tune-up remains before the Aggies enter conference play as they host Sam Houston State on Tuesday. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. CT.
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