Texas A&M
5-0
Prairie View A&M
2-2
Aggies Blank Prairie View, 11-0
Feb 24, 2016 | Baseball
COLLEGE STATION, Texas – The No. 4 Texas A&M Aggies (5-0) shutout the Prairie View A&M Panthers (2-2), 11-0, Wednesday night on Blue Bell Park at Olsen Field. Aggie pitching hurled their second shutout in the last three games while the red-hot A&M bats did their part with another double-digit scoring performance.
The victory extended Texas A&M's string of non-conference regular-season wins to 35 games and it marked the 20th straight midweek triumph for the Maroon and White.
Stephen Kolek, making his A&M debut, was solid in four innings of work. The Shepherd, Texas native fanned four Panthers and didn't allow a run getting out of several jams with groundballs and strikeouts.
The Aggies were the first to score with one in the bottom of the second. Michael Barash started the inning with a single and was brought around on an RBI double from Ronnie Gideon off starting pitcher Edward Robledo (1-1), who was tagged with the loss. Nick Choruby made the score 2-0 in favor of A&M, in the fourth with some aggressive baserunning. Choruby doubled with one out and an error on a grounder by George Janca put runners on the corners. Choruby came home to score when Janca was caught stealing at second..
The Maroon and White offense would blow the game open with a seven-run fifth inning that began with the first five hitters reaching base, including Barash who reached safely in his seventh consecutive plate appearance. Gideon notched three more RBI with his second double of the game, giving him 11 RBI on the year, and Ryne Birk came all the way around on his own single after a Prairie View error.
The Aggies added another run in the seventh giving A&M 27 unanswered runs since their pitching staff last allowed a run in the second inning on Tuesday. They also have put a runner on base in 18 consecutive frames dating back to the sixth inning against Hofstra.
The 11-run lead was more than enough for the Aggie bullpen who continued their stellar start to the season. Kaylor Chafin (1-0) retired all three batters he faced in the fifth to earn the win. Turner Larkins pitched two hitless frames fanning four. Ty Schlottmann and Cason Sherrod tag-teamed a scoreless eighth leaving Brigham Hill to close out the game. Altogether, the pen worked five innings allowing one hit while striking out seven. On the season, Texas A&M relief pitching has posted a 0.47 ERA, giving up just one run.
The 1-2 leadoff punch of Birk and Boomer White hit 5-for-7 on the day with a pair of runs and a walk. Hunter Melton in the 3-hole played along going 2-for-4 with a double and a hit by pitch.
Next, the Aggies will be hitting the road for California for a three game set at Pepperdine. Their next game home game will be on Tuesday against Houston Baptist, followed by a three game weekend set with Yale.
Next, the Aggies will be hitting the road for California for a three game set at Pepperdine. Their next game home game will be on Tuesday against Houston Baptist, followed by a three game weekend set with Yale.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Chafin, Kaylor (1-0)
L: Robledo, Edward (1-1)
Batting:
2B: Sanchez, Edgar 1 ; Lee, Carson 1
Base Running:
CS: Den Beste, Cody 1
Batting:
2B: White, Boomer 1 ; Birk, Ryne 1 ; Melton, Hunter 1 ; Gideon, Ronnie 2 ; Choruby, Nick 1
RBI: Birk, Ryne 1 ; Melton, Hunter 1 ; Gideon, Ronnie 4 ; Moss, J.B. 1 ; Pennington, Walker 1
SH: Choruby, Nick 1
Base Running:
RUNS: White, Boomer 1 ; Metten, Tristan 1 ; Birk, Ryne 1 ; Melton, Hunter 1 ; Davis, Joel 1 ; Barash, Michael 2 ; Bedford, Cole 1 ; Gideon, Ronnie 1 ; Moss, J.B. 1 ; Choruby, Nick 1
CS: Janca, George 1
HBP: Melton, Hunter 1
