Tuesday, February 23
College Station
6:30 PM
Texas A&M
4-0
21
vs
1
Stephen F. Austin
2-3
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Stephen F. Austin
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
3
7
Texas A&M
4
1
1
6
3
5
1
0
X
21
20
1
Photo by: Texas A&M Athletics
Aggies Blackjack the Lumberjacks, 21-1
Feb 23, 2016 | Baseball
COLLEGE STATION, Texas – The No. 4 Texas A&M Aggies (4-0) put on an offensive show with a 21-1 victory over the Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks (2-3) on Blue Bell at Olsen Field Tuesday evening. It was A&M's largest victory since 1995 thanks in part to the second straight three-hit performance from Aggie pitching.
Jace Vines (1-0) was on the mound for the Aggies in his second appearance and his first start at A&M. He worked 5.0 innings, giving up three hits and fanning seven Jacks. Andrew Vinson and Mitchell Kilkenny worked in relief over four innings not giving up a hit and only allowing one baserunner.
The Aggies wasted no time posting a four-spot on SFA in the first. After Boomer White and Ryne Birk got on to lead off the inning, Hunter Melton brought White home with a single giving him seven RBI through just four games. Michael Barash plated another with an RBI groundout while Joel Davis and Nick Choruby both would add RBI doubles.
SFA put a run of their own up in the top half of the second, but A&M would get the run back in the bottom half thanks to another RBI from Barash on a single.
The Aggies chased SFA Starter Austin Hagy (0-1) after putting up another run in the third. Hagy would give up six unearned runs in the outing. He was relieved by Eric Polivka who wasn't helped much by the defense behind him during a three-error six-run Aggie fourth. Choruby and White both had two-run hits in the inning bringing the score to 12-1, A&M.
A&M continued the big-run inning trend with a three-run fifth and a five-run sixth. George Janca had the big hit with a three-run triple in the fifth and Walker Pennington recorded his first hit as an Aggie with a two-run double in the sixth. A&M would push one more across in the seventh.
13 different Aggies crossed the plate and 13 different Aggies recorded a hit. A&M was aided by seven SFA errors which accounted for 15 unearned runs.
The 20-run deficit was the largest since A&M beat SFA 21-0 on Feb. 22, 1995. The Aggies bring their career record against the Jacks to 23-1. The 21-run outing was the largest since scoring the same amount against Centenary in 2011.
Choruby had a career night going 4-for-5, with two doubles driving in five and reaching base in all six plate appearances. He was the only A&M starter not relieved during the game. White put up a big RBI day for a leadoff hitter driving in four Aggies.
The Aggies will be back out at tomorrow against Prairie View A&M in another 6:35 first pitch, before heading to California for a three game set with Pepperdine.
TEXAS A&M QUOTES
Head Coach Rob Childress
On the game…
"I'm really proud of our performance in all areas of the game today. We had guys up and down the lineup taking great at-bats. Sometimes you can play shaky defense or get erratic on the mound when the offense is staying out there as long as we were, but the pitchers kept pounding the zone with strikes and making quick work of them so we could get the offense back out and keep the momentum going."
Sophomore pitcher Jace Vines
On the game…
"That four-run first really helped me get settled in. Coach (Childress) called a great game. The weather wasn't great, but I told the guys I'd get them back in the dugout, where it was warmer, as fast as I could."
On pitching in the cold, blustery weather…
"My fingers started getting numb a couple times, but once I got them warmed up it wasn't too bad. I don't think any of my pitches were affected."
Jace Vines (1-0) was on the mound for the Aggies in his second appearance and his first start at A&M. He worked 5.0 innings, giving up three hits and fanning seven Jacks. Andrew Vinson and Mitchell Kilkenny worked in relief over four innings not giving up a hit and only allowing one baserunner.
The Aggies wasted no time posting a four-spot on SFA in the first. After Boomer White and Ryne Birk got on to lead off the inning, Hunter Melton brought White home with a single giving him seven RBI through just four games. Michael Barash plated another with an RBI groundout while Joel Davis and Nick Choruby both would add RBI doubles.
SFA put a run of their own up in the top half of the second, but A&M would get the run back in the bottom half thanks to another RBI from Barash on a single.
The Aggies chased SFA Starter Austin Hagy (0-1) after putting up another run in the third. Hagy would give up six unearned runs in the outing. He was relieved by Eric Polivka who wasn't helped much by the defense behind him during a three-error six-run Aggie fourth. Choruby and White both had two-run hits in the inning bringing the score to 12-1, A&M.
A&M continued the big-run inning trend with a three-run fifth and a five-run sixth. George Janca had the big hit with a three-run triple in the fifth and Walker Pennington recorded his first hit as an Aggie with a two-run double in the sixth. A&M would push one more across in the seventh.
13 different Aggies crossed the plate and 13 different Aggies recorded a hit. A&M was aided by seven SFA errors which accounted for 15 unearned runs.
The 20-run deficit was the largest since A&M beat SFA 21-0 on Feb. 22, 1995. The Aggies bring their career record against the Jacks to 23-1. The 21-run outing was the largest since scoring the same amount against Centenary in 2011.
Choruby had a career night going 4-for-5, with two doubles driving in five and reaching base in all six plate appearances. He was the only A&M starter not relieved during the game. White put up a big RBI day for a leadoff hitter driving in four Aggies.
The Aggies will be back out at tomorrow against Prairie View A&M in another 6:35 first pitch, before heading to California for a three game set with Pepperdine.
TEXAS A&M QUOTES
Head Coach Rob Childress
On the game…
"I'm really proud of our performance in all areas of the game today. We had guys up and down the lineup taking great at-bats. Sometimes you can play shaky defense or get erratic on the mound when the offense is staying out there as long as we were, but the pitchers kept pounding the zone with strikes and making quick work of them so we could get the offense back out and keep the momentum going."
Sophomore pitcher Jace Vines
On the game…
"That four-run first really helped me get settled in. Coach (Childress) called a great game. The weather wasn't great, but I told the guys I'd get them back in the dugout, where it was warmer, as fast as I could."
On pitching in the cold, blustery weather…
"My fingers started getting numb a couple times, but once I got them warmed up it wasn't too bad. I don't think any of my pitches were affected."
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Vines, Jace (1-0)
L: Hagy, Austin (0-1)
Batting:
3B: Fikes, Conner 1
RBI: McMullen, Garrett 1
SH: McMullen, Garrett 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Fikes, Conner 1
SB: McMullen, Garrett 1 ; DeJesus, Eric 1
HBP: Gregory, Gavin 1
Batting:
2B: Barash, Michael 1 ; Davis, Joel 1 ; Pennington, Walker 1 ; Choruby, Nick 2 ; Janca, George 1
RBI: White, Boomer 4 ; Homan, Austin 1 ; Melton, Hunter 1 ; Barash, Michael 3 ; Davis, Joel 1 ; Pennington, Walker 1 ; Moss, J.B. 1 ; Choruby, Nick 5 ; Janca, George 3
SH: Banks, Nick 1 ; Choruby, Nick 1 ; Janca, George 1
SF: Moss, J.B. 1
Base Running:
RUNS: White, Boomer 1 ; Birk, Ryne 2 ; Homan, Austin 1 ; Melton, Hunter 1 ; Banks, Nick 2 ; Barash, Michael 3 ; Bedford, Cole 1 ; Davis, Joel 2 ; Pennington, Walker 1 ; Moss, J.B. 3 ; Kopetsky, Blake 1 ; Choruby, Nick 2 ; Janca, George 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
5
R
2
H
4
RBI
5
pr/2b
AB
2
R
1
H
2
RBI
1
AB
3
R
3
H
2
RBI
3
Players Mentioned
C
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OF
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INF
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INF
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RHP
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INF
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OF
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RHP
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
INF
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