Friday, March 4
College Station
6:30 PM
Texas A&M
9-1
12
vs
5
Yale
0-1
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Yale
0
0
0
0
0
0
5
0
0
5
3
0
Texas A&M
2
0
0
2
0
2
4
2
X
12
13
1
Photo by: Texas A&M Athletics
Moss and Vines Power A&M to 12-5 Win over Ivy's Yale
Mar 04, 2016 | Baseball
COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Senior outfielder J.B. Moss plated five runs and sophomore Jace Vines cruised through six hitless innings on the mound to lead the Texas A&M Aggies to a 12-5 lead over the Yale Bulldogs in Friday's series opener on Olsen Field at Blue Bell Park.
Texas A&M (9-1) needed just three pitches to jump on the scoreboard in the bottom of the first. Leadoff hitter Moss pounced on a 1-1 offering and launched it over the leftfield fence for his second home run of the season. With two outs, Hunter Melton drew a six-pitch walk and moved to second on a wild pitch. Nick Banks, making his first plate appearance after a five-game absence, gapped a double to left-center, knocking in Melton for the 2-0 lead.
The Maroon and White tacked on two more runs in the fourth. Banks slapped a lead-off single to leftfield. With one out, Yale centerfielder Tim Degraw was unable to make a sliding catch on a slicing liner to right-center by Ryne Birk and the double put two runners in scoring position. Ronnie Gideon knocked in Banks with a sacrifice fly to rightfield. George Janca followed by driving a ball to the warning track in right-center that rightfielder Harrison White was able to get a glove on, but was unable corral in his dead sprint and the triple scored Birk to inflate the cushion to 4-0.
The Aggies added two runs off of reliever Drew Scott in the sixth. Ryne Birk welcomed Scott with a single to leftfield and stole second base. With one out, Janca laced a single through the left side to send Birk home. Janca took two bases on wild pitches and scored when Boomer White punched a first-pitch offering into leftfield, staking the Aggies to a 6-0 advantage.
The bats finally came alive for Yale (0-1) in the top of the seventh. After Benny Wanger drew a five-pitch walk to start the frame, Tom Ruddy bounced a single up the middle to break up Vines' no-hit bid. Richard Slenker followed with an infield single to shortstop, loading the bases and driving Vines from the contest.
Kaylor Chafin took the mound for the Aggies and issued a four-pitch walk to pinch-hitter Chris Moates to give Yale its first run of the game. Alec Hoeschel bounced out to second base to cut the A&M lead to 6-2. Andrew Vinson entered the game from the Aggie bullpen and Andrew Herrera greeted him with a first-pitch home run to leftfield, trimming the A&M margin to 6-5.
The Aggies offered an immediate response in the bottom of the seventh. With one out, Michael Barash lofted a single into shallow right-center. Gideon was issued a base on balls with two outs and Janca took a free pass to fill the bags with Ags. A wild pitch sent Barash home for the two run lead and JB Moss slapped the next pitch back up the middle for a two-run single, giving the Aggies a 9-5 lead. Moss stole second base and Nick Choruby and White were granted bases on balls to reload the bases. Melton pushed the final run of the inning across with a six-pitch walk.
The cavalcade of runs was completed in the eighth when Moss laced a two-run double to left-center, giving A&M the 12-5 margin.
Moss batted 3-for-6 with one double, one home run, two runs and five RBI. Janca was 2-for-3 with one triple, three runs and two RBI. Banks and Birk each added two hits, including one double apiece.
Vines (2-0), who need just 27 pitches to get through the first three innings, earned the win. He allowed three runs on two hits and two walks while striking out eight in six innings plus three batters. Stephen Kolek retired all six batters he faced in the eighth and ninth innings.
Mason Kukowski (0-1) was saddled with the loss for Yale. He allowed four runs on seven hits and two walks while striking out three in 5.0 innings.
Aggie pitchers recorded 11 strikeouts. It marked the eighth time in 10 games this season that A&M has registered double-digits in the K column.
The Aggies and Bulldogs return to action with a 2pm game Saturday on Olsen Field at Blue Bell Park.
TEXAS A&M QUOTES
Head Coach Rob Childress
Thoughts on the game…
"I'm really proud of our guys. Starting pitching was outstanding. We made one mistake defensively and we were able to get through the fourth inning without giving up a run. Yale made a run at us in the seventh. You have to give them credit for putting together a big inning. But, we were able to get off the field and come back and answer their runs with our own four spots. Lots of big hits and gritty two strike at-bats."
Sophomore starting pitcher Jace Vines
On the game…
"Hats off to the bullpen. They work their butts off every day. After that hiccup in the seventh, they shut things down. I didn't locate my fastball like I would have liked to tonight and didn't capitalize when I needed to leaving pitches in bad position. My slider felt good. They were swinging and missing a lot on that and everything else felt fine."
Senior outfielder J.B. Moss
On the big hits...
"That two-run single up the middle in the seventh was bigger than the home run in my opinion. We needed a big response in that inning. They threw up a five-spot in the top half and got a lot of momentum and for us to score four in the bottom was probably the biggest response inning we've had all year."
Texas A&M (9-1) needed just three pitches to jump on the scoreboard in the bottom of the first. Leadoff hitter Moss pounced on a 1-1 offering and launched it over the leftfield fence for his second home run of the season. With two outs, Hunter Melton drew a six-pitch walk and moved to second on a wild pitch. Nick Banks, making his first plate appearance after a five-game absence, gapped a double to left-center, knocking in Melton for the 2-0 lead.
The Maroon and White tacked on two more runs in the fourth. Banks slapped a lead-off single to leftfield. With one out, Yale centerfielder Tim Degraw was unable to make a sliding catch on a slicing liner to right-center by Ryne Birk and the double put two runners in scoring position. Ronnie Gideon knocked in Banks with a sacrifice fly to rightfield. George Janca followed by driving a ball to the warning track in right-center that rightfielder Harrison White was able to get a glove on, but was unable corral in his dead sprint and the triple scored Birk to inflate the cushion to 4-0.
The Aggies added two runs off of reliever Drew Scott in the sixth. Ryne Birk welcomed Scott with a single to leftfield and stole second base. With one out, Janca laced a single through the left side to send Birk home. Janca took two bases on wild pitches and scored when Boomer White punched a first-pitch offering into leftfield, staking the Aggies to a 6-0 advantage.
The bats finally came alive for Yale (0-1) in the top of the seventh. After Benny Wanger drew a five-pitch walk to start the frame, Tom Ruddy bounced a single up the middle to break up Vines' no-hit bid. Richard Slenker followed with an infield single to shortstop, loading the bases and driving Vines from the contest.
Kaylor Chafin took the mound for the Aggies and issued a four-pitch walk to pinch-hitter Chris Moates to give Yale its first run of the game. Alec Hoeschel bounced out to second base to cut the A&M lead to 6-2. Andrew Vinson entered the game from the Aggie bullpen and Andrew Herrera greeted him with a first-pitch home run to leftfield, trimming the A&M margin to 6-5.
The Aggies offered an immediate response in the bottom of the seventh. With one out, Michael Barash lofted a single into shallow right-center. Gideon was issued a base on balls with two outs and Janca took a free pass to fill the bags with Ags. A wild pitch sent Barash home for the two run lead and JB Moss slapped the next pitch back up the middle for a two-run single, giving the Aggies a 9-5 lead. Moss stole second base and Nick Choruby and White were granted bases on balls to reload the bases. Melton pushed the final run of the inning across with a six-pitch walk.
The cavalcade of runs was completed in the eighth when Moss laced a two-run double to left-center, giving A&M the 12-5 margin.
Moss batted 3-for-6 with one double, one home run, two runs and five RBI. Janca was 2-for-3 with one triple, three runs and two RBI. Banks and Birk each added two hits, including one double apiece.
Vines (2-0), who need just 27 pitches to get through the first three innings, earned the win. He allowed three runs on two hits and two walks while striking out eight in six innings plus three batters. Stephen Kolek retired all six batters he faced in the eighth and ninth innings.
Mason Kukowski (0-1) was saddled with the loss for Yale. He allowed four runs on seven hits and two walks while striking out three in 5.0 innings.
Aggie pitchers recorded 11 strikeouts. It marked the eighth time in 10 games this season that A&M has registered double-digits in the K column.
The Aggies and Bulldogs return to action with a 2pm game Saturday on Olsen Field at Blue Bell Park.
TEXAS A&M QUOTES
Head Coach Rob Childress
Thoughts on the game…
"I'm really proud of our guys. Starting pitching was outstanding. We made one mistake defensively and we were able to get through the fourth inning without giving up a run. Yale made a run at us in the seventh. You have to give them credit for putting together a big inning. But, we were able to get off the field and come back and answer their runs with our own four spots. Lots of big hits and gritty two strike at-bats."
Sophomore starting pitcher Jace Vines
On the game…
"Hats off to the bullpen. They work their butts off every day. After that hiccup in the seventh, they shut things down. I didn't locate my fastball like I would have liked to tonight and didn't capitalize when I needed to leaving pitches in bad position. My slider felt good. They were swinging and missing a lot on that and everything else felt fine."
Senior outfielder J.B. Moss
On the big hits...
"That two-run single up the middle in the seventh was bigger than the home run in my opinion. We needed a big response in that inning. They threw up a five-spot in the top half and got a lot of momentum and for us to score four in the bottom was probably the biggest response inning we've had all year."
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Vines, Jace (2-0)
L: Kukowski, Mason (0-1)
Batting:
HR: Herrera, Andrew 1
RBI: Moates, Chris 1 ; Hoeschel, Alec 1 ; Herrera, Andrew 3
Base Running:
RUNS: Lawson, Brent 1 ; Ruddy, Tom 1 ; Slenker, Richard 1 ; Hoeschel, Alec 1 ; Herrera, Andrew 1
Batting:
2B: Moss, J.B. 1 ; Choruby, Nick 1 ; Banks, Nick 1 ; Birk, Ryne 1
3B: Janca, George 1
HR: Moss, J.B. 1
RBI: Moss, J.B. 5 ; White, Boomer 1 ; Melton, Hunter 1 ; Banks, Nick 1 ; Gideon, Ronnie 1 ; Janca, George 2
SF: Gideon, Ronnie 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Moss, J.B. 2 ; Melton, Hunter 1 ; Banks, Nick 1 ; Barash, Michael 1 ; Birk, Ryne 2 ; Gideon, Ronnie 1 ; Homan, Austin 1 ; Janca, George 3
SB: Moss, J.B. 1 ; Birk, Ryne 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
rf/cf
AB
5
R
1
H
2
RBI
1
AB
3
R
3
H
2
RBI
2
Players Mentioned
OF
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LHP
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OF
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INF
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RHP
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INF
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RHP
/ Baseball
RHP
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INF
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