Aggies overpower Islanders to conclude 10-game home stand, 17-7
Game #20: Texas A&M 17, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 7 (7 innings)
Records: Texas A&M (11-9, 0-3), Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (8-14, 1-5)
WP: Grant Cunningham (1-0)
LP: Matthew Molina (0-1)
Box Score
Texas A&M's offense hummed on Tuesday.
But will the tune change when the Aggies get to the Music City?
On the final night of their 10-game homestand, the Maroon & White found an offensive rhythm in a 17-7 run rule of Texas A&M-Corpus Christi at Blue Bell Park.
"I'm just real confident in our team," A&M head coach Michael Earley said. "After we lose, I'm devastated, but that doesn't change how I feel about us and the confidence I have in the guys in that locker room and the confidence I have every day because of them and how they put in the work."
Needing just seven innings, the Aggies tallied 13 hits, worked nine walks and earned three more free passes.
They scored six runs in the first, three in the third, four in the fourth and four more in the seventh to run away from the Islanders.
However, the early innings were much more stomach-churning than the final score might indicate.
"We felt good," Earley said. "We came in with good energy, ready to go before the game. We didn't score in the second, but I mean, good at-bats. I just liked how they attacked the day as a whole."
After assuming a 6-2 lead after the first, the Aggies coughed up four in an error-plagued second.
The visitors even took a 7-6 lead on Logan Vaughn's ambush home run an inning later.
But when Bear Harrison launched a 413-foot two-run blast in the bottom half, A&M took off and never looked back.
"Today, in the locker room, we talked a lot about just having belief in ourselves," the Aggie backstop said. "These are the same guys that were the No. 1-ranked team in the nation. Nobody has left. Nobody has changed. We just have to believe in ourselves every day that we are the best out there, and we can play with anybody."
The list of standouts was long and impressive.
Harrison finished 2-for-3 with a pair of two-run round-trippers and five total RBIs.
Jace LaViolette enjoyed a four-hit night. Gavin Kash notched three sacrifice flies and came inches away from multiple grand slams, including one taken away by a sensational leaping-over-the-wall catch by Christian Smith-Johnson in the third.
Kaeden Kent doubled twice in one inning and drove in three. Hayden Schott picked up two RBIs. Terrence Kiel II was 2-for-3 with a pair of walks.
"We've got our core group, I think you can see," Earley said. "Just trying to find some guys that give quality at-bats and play good defense. That's what it's going to be. That's what it is right now.
"We got some guys banged up; some guys that are banged up playing. There's no excuse on our end and no excuse for anybody who gets an opportunity. We're here to play, no matter what."
And so the A&M skipper continues to tinker.
Blake Binderup started in left field. He was removed after a 0-for-3 showing and a dropped fly ball.
Sawyer Farr was removed after a second-inning error. Ben Royo, Farr's replacement, went 1-for-2 with two walks and three runs scored.
Indeed, learning was done during Tuesday’s date with an inferior foe.
"Bear has been up and down; Royo hasn't played much," Earley said. "That next-man-up mentality, and when you play, you got to be ready to go, and both of them did an outstanding job."
Speaking of tinkering, Grant Cunningham provided 5.1 innings in relief of Aiden Sims.
Working on a cutter-slider hybrid, the Washington transfer allowed just one run on three hits en route to his first win as an Aggie.
"The confidence isn't necessarily from the game tonight, but moreso just relying on that strength and confidence that we've built in the past," Cunningham said. "We've got some guys that are really, really talented."
Tuesday provided a feel-good ending to a lackluster 6-4 stay in Aggieland, but what's most important is whether it can rock and roll into this weekend's series with No. 22 Vanderbilt.
The goal will be to turn Tuesday's hum into a full-fledged roar on the road.
"We attacked it like we're supposed to attack it," Earley said. "We're going to do the same thing this weekend, no matter who plays, what guy, what the lineup is. You're going to see our guys play their tails off. I can promise you that.
"We're going to attack it the same. I just hope we get more hits."
