Game #24: No. 25 Texas A&M 5, Houston Christian 1
Records: Texas A&M (19-5, 2-4), Houston Christian (11-13, 4-5)
WP: Grant Cunningham (1-1)
LP: Jett Feltman (1-1)
Save: Clayton Freshcorn (5)
Box Score
If a fight were to break out, Michael Earley knows who he wants by his side.
Following a 5-1 victory over Houston Christian at Blue Bell Park, the Texas A&M skipper named Cole Hubert, Jorian Wilson and Blake Binderup as his bodyguards should situations ever get dicey.
Of course, that trio contributed to another close-but-comfortable Fightin’ (in name alone) Texas Aggie midweek win.
“I think it all started on the mound,” Earley said. “Cole Hubert was awesome, and when you’re at home, the pitcher has to give you that opportunity to do it, and he did, and I was super happy for him. He’s just an amazing dude.
“Cole’s one of those freshmen we think is gonna be a really good player here. Just love when guys work hard, play hard, do everything right, perform well. … He’s cerebral. He could have been a Division I wrestler, and he’s an engineer major here. Short memory, super focused, and he kept filling the zone up.”
Hubert — a former all-state wrestler in Pennsylvania who is generously listed at 5-foot-11 — spun 4.1 innings of scoreless baseball. The freshman left-hander fanned three. He walked none.
Described as a “psychotic competitor” by his head coach, Hubert used heightened command of a mid-90s fastball to frustrate the Huskies and induce plenty of weak contact.
“Baseball is a tough game, and stuff happens. Roll the dice, and they fell the right way today,” he said. “Didn’t change anything necessarily. Didn’t do anything different but just competed with the best of my ability.”
Far from weak, Wilson showcased all of his freakish abilities.
Standing 6-foot-4 and weighing 240 pounds, he first exhibited his speed when turning an error on a bouncing ball to second into a de facto double.
Next came his strength as a fourth-inning solo shot left Wilson’s bat at 110 mph and a launch angle of 46 degrees, scraping the heavens before landing beyond the visiting bullpen.
Protecting that 3-0 lead, he subsequently gunned down a runner trying to score for the third out of the top of the fifth.
His big smile is present whether he’s hitting balls out or throwing men out
“I just like to help my team win. Either one is great, as long as we’re winning,” Wilson said. “I’m trusting my coaches. I know what they’re telling me is good. They’re not gonna tell me something to make me worse, so I just try everything, and if it doesn’t end up working out, we scratch it, find something else.”
In a rare start, the young Hallettsville Hammer showed why former big leaguer Cliff Pennington believes his ceiling to be rare amongst all the ballplayers he has crossed paths with.
Of course, not to be outdone, Binderup doubled, drove in a run and scored twice.
With those three leading the way, along with Caden Sorrell’s first-inning solo shot, A&M led from the very beginning as the Huskies threatened only once.
HCU did not score until the eighth when a trio of singles got them on the board. Then, with two outs, the visitors loaded the bases and brought the tying run to the plate.
Earley called upon right-handed fireballer Clayton Freshcorn, who fanned Preston Curtis to diffuse the high-leverage threat on his way to retiring all four Huskies he faced to earn his fifth save of the season.
“These games are tough,” Earley said. “You see it every week. You don’t want to be that team. Those guys play hard. They work hard. They’re not having the year they had last season, but they got some good players over there. Having (Freshcorn) come in and be able to shut the door, it’s huge.”
That Freshcorn needed to throw the knockout blow vs. HCU is no cause for alarm. Just look at tonight’s scores around the SEC…or any midweek matchup for that matter.
Tuesdays sometimes turn into fights, and Earley had his fighters ready.
They’ll just need to keep punching — perhaps with vengeful fists — when they travel to Missouri this weekend.
