Tuesday, April 5
Houston, Texas
6:30 PM
Texas A&M
22-7
3
at
4
Rice
18-10
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Texas A&M
1
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
1
3
8
1
Rice
0
1
0
3
0
0
0
0
X
4
8
2
A&M's Midweek Win Streak Snapped at Rice
Apr 05, 2016 | Baseball
HOUSTON, Texas – The No. 5 Texas A&M Aggies had their 25-game midweek string snapped with a 4-3 loss against the Rice Owls Tuesday night at Reckling Park.
Entering the evening, the Aggies had last lost a midweek tilt to the Houston Cougars on April 1, 2014.
The Aggies drew first blood for the 23rd time on the season. J.B. Moss started the game by singling through the left side of the infield and stealing second base. It marked the 17th time the Aggies scored in the first inning. After Ryne Birk drew a walk and Boomer White flied out to centerfield, Hunter Melton singled to left field, plating Moss for the 1-0 lead.
Rice tied the game at 1-1 in the bottom of the second. Dane Myers started the inning with a single to leftfield, moved to second on a passed ball and advanced to third on a deep fly out to rightfield by Connor Teykl. With two outs, Myers came home on a wild pitch to score the equalizer.
The Owls claimed the lead in the bottom of the fourth. With one out, Myers tripled down the rightfield line. On a 1-2 offering, Teykl was awarded first on a catcher's interference to put runners at the corners. Dayne Wunderlich pushed across the go-ahead run with a blop single to centerfield. Hunter Kopycinski added a pair of insurance runs with a double to left-center, staking Rice to a 4-1 advantage.
Texas A&M (22-7) trimmed a run off the lead in the seventh. Melton started the inning with a single down the leftfield line and he moved to second on a groundout to third base. Walker Pennington smoked a two-bouncer to the hot corner where Myers was saddled with a two-base error and Melton came around to score, cutting the lead to 4-2.
The Aggies mustered a late rally in the ninth but it came up short. With two outs, Nick Choruby reached on an infield single and moved to second on a throwing error. Michael Barash followed with a single up the middle to plate Choruby, trimming the edge to 4-3. Ronnie Gideon came up to the plate as a pinch-hitter and was caught looking at strike three for the final out of the game.
Melton was the lone Aggie to log multiple hits, going 2-for-4 with one run and one RBI.
Myers led Rice at the plate, going 2-for-4 with two runs and a triple.
Aggie starting pitcher Tyler Ivey (2-2) allowed four runs, two earned, on six hits and one walk while striking out one in 3.1 innings in the loss. Andrew Vinson was stellar in relief, working 3.2 scoreless innings with one hit while striking out two.
Rice starter Willy Amador worked 4.1 innings before being lifted upon a visit by the athletic trainer. Glenn Otto (3-1) closed out the game to earn the win. He allowed two runs, both unearned, on five hits while striking out three in 4.2 innings.
The Aggies return to action Friday when they host the Georgia Bulldogs for the start of a three-game series. First pitch for the opener is slated for 6:32 pm on Olsen field at Blue Bell Park.
TEXAS A&M QUOTES
Head Coach Rob Childress
On the loss…
"It was a hard-fought game. It's certainly a disappointing loss. We score a run in the first and give it right back in the second with a two-strike single, get crossed up when we call a breaking ball and get a fast ball to move the guy to second, move to third on a fly ball and score on a wild pitch. When they take the lead in the fourth, everything happened with two strikes. Two-strike triple, catcher's interference with a 1-2 count, two-strike single and an 0-2 double to score two runs for a three-run inning. And they made it stand."
On Rice's pitching…
"They went to their closer in the fifth inning and he was good. We had a chance in the fifth. We get a leadoff double, but we don't move him and we don't score him. We made him a little nervous their late, but it was too little, too late."
On whether the last four losses could be attributed to the Aggies or their opponents…
"I think it's a little of both. We haven't been crisp in all phases the last four games, but we're playing very good teams in Florida and Rice. We've had a string where every time we've made a mistake the other team has taken advantage of it."
Entering the evening, the Aggies had last lost a midweek tilt to the Houston Cougars on April 1, 2014.
The Aggies drew first blood for the 23rd time on the season. J.B. Moss started the game by singling through the left side of the infield and stealing second base. It marked the 17th time the Aggies scored in the first inning. After Ryne Birk drew a walk and Boomer White flied out to centerfield, Hunter Melton singled to left field, plating Moss for the 1-0 lead.
Rice tied the game at 1-1 in the bottom of the second. Dane Myers started the inning with a single to leftfield, moved to second on a passed ball and advanced to third on a deep fly out to rightfield by Connor Teykl. With two outs, Myers came home on a wild pitch to score the equalizer.
The Owls claimed the lead in the bottom of the fourth. With one out, Myers tripled down the rightfield line. On a 1-2 offering, Teykl was awarded first on a catcher's interference to put runners at the corners. Dayne Wunderlich pushed across the go-ahead run with a blop single to centerfield. Hunter Kopycinski added a pair of insurance runs with a double to left-center, staking Rice to a 4-1 advantage.
Texas A&M (22-7) trimmed a run off the lead in the seventh. Melton started the inning with a single down the leftfield line and he moved to second on a groundout to third base. Walker Pennington smoked a two-bouncer to the hot corner where Myers was saddled with a two-base error and Melton came around to score, cutting the lead to 4-2.
The Aggies mustered a late rally in the ninth but it came up short. With two outs, Nick Choruby reached on an infield single and moved to second on a throwing error. Michael Barash followed with a single up the middle to plate Choruby, trimming the edge to 4-3. Ronnie Gideon came up to the plate as a pinch-hitter and was caught looking at strike three for the final out of the game.
Melton was the lone Aggie to log multiple hits, going 2-for-4 with one run and one RBI.
Myers led Rice at the plate, going 2-for-4 with two runs and a triple.
Aggie starting pitcher Tyler Ivey (2-2) allowed four runs, two earned, on six hits and one walk while striking out one in 3.1 innings in the loss. Andrew Vinson was stellar in relief, working 3.2 scoreless innings with one hit while striking out two.
Rice starter Willy Amador worked 4.1 innings before being lifted upon a visit by the athletic trainer. Glenn Otto (3-1) closed out the game to earn the win. He allowed two runs, both unearned, on five hits while striking out three in 4.2 innings.
The Aggies return to action Friday when they host the Georgia Bulldogs for the start of a three-game series. First pitch for the opener is slated for 6:32 pm on Olsen field at Blue Bell Park.
TEXAS A&M QUOTES
Head Coach Rob Childress
On the loss…
"It was a hard-fought game. It's certainly a disappointing loss. We score a run in the first and give it right back in the second with a two-strike single, get crossed up when we call a breaking ball and get a fast ball to move the guy to second, move to third on a fly ball and score on a wild pitch. When they take the lead in the fourth, everything happened with two strikes. Two-strike triple, catcher's interference with a 1-2 count, two-strike single and an 0-2 double to score two runs for a three-run inning. And they made it stand."
On Rice's pitching…
"They went to their closer in the fifth inning and he was good. We had a chance in the fifth. We get a leadoff double, but we don't move him and we don't score him. We made him a little nervous their late, but it was too little, too late."
On whether the last four losses could be attributed to the Aggies or their opponents…
"I think it's a little of both. We haven't been crisp in all phases the last four games, but we're playing very good teams in Florida and Rice. We've had a string where every time we've made a mistake the other team has taken advantage of it."
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Otto (3-1)
L: Ivey, Tyler (2-2)
Batting:
2B: Pennington, Walker 1
RBI: Melton, Hunter 1 ; Barash, Michael 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Moss, J.B. 1 ; Melton, Hunter 1 ; Choruby, Nick 1
SB: Moss, J.B. 1
PO: Birk, Ryne 1
Batting:
2B: Gray 1 ; Kopycinski 1
3B: Myers 1
RBI: Wunderlich 1 ; Kopycinski 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Myers 2 ; C.Teykl 1 ; Wunderlich 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
1
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
C
/ Baseball
OF
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ BaseballINF
/ BaseballOF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ BaseballINF
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