Friday, March 17
College Station
6:00 PM
Texas A&M
14-5, 0-1
0
vs
6
Kentucky
13-6, 1-0
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2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Kentucky
1
0
1
0
0
3
0
1
0
6
8
1
Texas A&M
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
4
1
Photo by: Thomas Campbell/Texas A&M Athletics
Aggies Lose SEC Opener Versus Kentucky, 6-0
Mar 17, 2017 | Baseball
COLLEGE STATION, Texas – The No. 13 Texas A&M Aggies were unable to muster an offense as they dropped a 6-0 decision to the Kentucky Wildcats in their SEC opener Friday evening on Olsen Field at Blue Bell Park.
Kentucky starter Sean Hjelle (3-1) held the Aggie bats to four hits in a complete-game effort. In his 117-pitch effort, Hjelle held A&M to four singles and a walk not allowing an Aggie baserunner to advance past second. The sophomore fanned nine hitters in his career-long outing.
The Wildcats (14-6, 1-0) opened the scoring with one out in the top of the first off A&M starter Brigham Hill (4-1). Tristan Pompey gave a 2-2 pitch a ride to dead center just clearing the wall, his first dinger of the season.
Texas A&M (14-5, 0-1) bats wouldn't be able to match the output the rest of the game, going 4-for-32 at the plate in their first scoreless game since May of 2016 against Sam Houston State.
The Wildcats added to their lead in the top of the third bringing eight-hole hitter Tyler Marshall around after he led off the inning with a single. Zach Reks drove Marshall in with a two-out single through the left side giving the Wildcats a 2-0 advantage.
They eventually pushed the lead to five putting up a three spot in the sixth. After Hill hit two of the first three batters in the inning, Troy Squires singled home the lead runner and Marshall cleared the bases with a double down the left field line. This brought an end to the day for Hill (4-1) who finished with 5.1 innings, five earned runs, six hits and six strikeouts.
Kaylor Chafin, who worked 2.1 innings out of the pen, allowed one unearned run in the eighth bringing the Wildcats to their final six-run tally. Cason Sherrod came in and finished the eighth and worked a scoreless ninth. The sophomore has held opposing hitters to a .091 batting average on the season.
The two squads are back at it for the middle game of the series at 2:00 on Saturday before wrapping up with a 1:00 p.m. Sunday start.
TEXAS A&M QUOTES
HEAD COACH ROB CHILDRESS
On Sean Hjelle's complete game…
"Early in the game I felt like we found the barrel, hit some balls hard right at them. But he was underneath our barrels too, a lot of balls on the ground. Once they grabbed the lead, he became very, very competitive. Just did a marvelous job. He pitched his tail off. Tip your hat to him."
On Brigham Hill's outing…
"It was a little bit of that last week, really struggling with the fastball to his glove side. I thought he competed really hard and you have to give Kentucky hitters credit, they did a great job with two strikes. They hit a two-strike homerun and had a big two-strike single that gave them a 2-0 lead. They were much more competitive than we were from an offensive standpoint."
On tomorrow's game…
"In the SEC you have to have a short-term memory and it's all about putting this one to bed, coming out tomorrow with your head pointing forward and give them our best effort."
FRESHMAN C HUNTER COLEMAN
On Sean Hjelle's performance…
"He had a fastball and a slider, more of a slow slider. He was just mixing up speeds and hitting his spots well. He was making good pitches, early in the game we were barreling up the ball, hitting hard, just right at him and at the end of the game he kind of took over."
On the message after the game…
"Short memory, come out tomorrow and punch back."
Kentucky starter Sean Hjelle (3-1) held the Aggie bats to four hits in a complete-game effort. In his 117-pitch effort, Hjelle held A&M to four singles and a walk not allowing an Aggie baserunner to advance past second. The sophomore fanned nine hitters in his career-long outing.
The Wildcats (14-6, 1-0) opened the scoring with one out in the top of the first off A&M starter Brigham Hill (4-1). Tristan Pompey gave a 2-2 pitch a ride to dead center just clearing the wall, his first dinger of the season.
Texas A&M (14-5, 0-1) bats wouldn't be able to match the output the rest of the game, going 4-for-32 at the plate in their first scoreless game since May of 2016 against Sam Houston State.
The Wildcats added to their lead in the top of the third bringing eight-hole hitter Tyler Marshall around after he led off the inning with a single. Zach Reks drove Marshall in with a two-out single through the left side giving the Wildcats a 2-0 advantage.
They eventually pushed the lead to five putting up a three spot in the sixth. After Hill hit two of the first three batters in the inning, Troy Squires singled home the lead runner and Marshall cleared the bases with a double down the left field line. This brought an end to the day for Hill (4-1) who finished with 5.1 innings, five earned runs, six hits and six strikeouts.
Kaylor Chafin, who worked 2.1 innings out of the pen, allowed one unearned run in the eighth bringing the Wildcats to their final six-run tally. Cason Sherrod came in and finished the eighth and worked a scoreless ninth. The sophomore has held opposing hitters to a .091 batting average on the season.
The two squads are back at it for the middle game of the series at 2:00 on Saturday before wrapping up with a 1:00 p.m. Sunday start.
TEXAS A&M QUOTES
HEAD COACH ROB CHILDRESS
On Sean Hjelle's complete game…
"Early in the game I felt like we found the barrel, hit some balls hard right at them. But he was underneath our barrels too, a lot of balls on the ground. Once they grabbed the lead, he became very, very competitive. Just did a marvelous job. He pitched his tail off. Tip your hat to him."
On Brigham Hill's outing…
"It was a little bit of that last week, really struggling with the fastball to his glove side. I thought he competed really hard and you have to give Kentucky hitters credit, they did a great job with two strikes. They hit a two-strike homerun and had a big two-strike single that gave them a 2-0 lead. They were much more competitive than we were from an offensive standpoint."
On tomorrow's game…
"In the SEC you have to have a short-term memory and it's all about putting this one to bed, coming out tomorrow with your head pointing forward and give them our best effort."
FRESHMAN C HUNTER COLEMAN
On Sean Hjelle's performance…
"He had a fastball and a slider, more of a slow slider. He was just mixing up speeds and hitting his spots well. He was making good pitches, early in the game we were barreling up the ball, hitting hard, just right at him and at the end of the game he kind of took over."
On the message after the game…
"Short memory, come out tomorrow and punch back."
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Hjelle, Sean (3-1)
L: Hill, Brigham (4-1)
Batting:
2B: Mahan, Riley 1 ; Marshall, Tyler 1
HR: Pompey, Tristan 1
RBI: Pompey, Tristan 1 ; Reks, Zach 1 ; Squires, Troy 1 ; Marshall, Tyler 3
SH: Squires, Troy 1 ; Marshall, Tyler 1 ; Heady, Connor 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Pompey, Tristan 1 ; Mahan, Riley 1 ; Cottam, Kole 1 ; Lewis, Zeke 1 ; Squires, Troy 1 ; Marshall, Tyler 1
SB: Becker, Luke 1
CS: Pompey, Tristan 1
HBP: Carson, Marcus 1 ; Becker, Luke 1 ; Cottam, Kole 1 ; Marshall, Tyler 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
LSU Postgame: Michael Earley, Jace Laviolette, Clayton Freshcorn
Friday, May 23
Highlights: A&M 3, LSU 4
Friday, May 23
Auburn Postgame: Michael Earley, Justin Lamkin, Kaeden Kent
Thursday, May 22
Highlights: Texas A&M 3, Auburn 2
Thursday, May 22
