Friday, April 21
College Station
2:00 PM
Texas A&M
27-12, 9-7
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Tennessee
19-16, 4-12
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9
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Tennessee
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Texas A&M
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Photo by: Russell James/Texas A&M Athletics
Janca's Walk-off Hit Gives Aggies 2-1 Win vs. Tennessee
Apr 21, 2017 | Baseball
COLLEGE STATION, Texas – George Janca gapped a walk-off single to left-center in the ninth inning to give the Texas A&M Aggies a 2-1 victory over the Tennessee Volunteers to open the series Friday afternoon on Olsen Field at Blue Bell Park.
Tied 1-1 in the ninth, Braden Shewmake led off the frame by punching a single up the middle off Tennessee starting pitcher Hunter Martin. The Aggies got a second man aboard when Martin was unsuccessful on making a leaping catch of a bunt by Hunter Coleman. Cole Bedford pushed both runners into scoring position with a sacrifice bunt and the Volunteers intentionally walked Blake Kopetsky to fill the bags with Ags. Janca ended the game by blasting the first pitch he saw in the at-bat to the gap where it landed for the walkoff single.
After six blank frames, Texas A&M (27-12, 9-7 SEC) broke the scoring seal in the bottom of the seventh when Shewmake hammered a 1-2 offering over the fence in right-center for his fifth home run of the season and a 1-0 lead.
Tennessee (19-16, 4-12 SEC) responded immediately with a run in the eighth. With one out, Jeff Moberg roped a ball to centerfield where Nick Choruby's attempt at a diving catch came up short and Moberg wheeled around to third with a triple. Mitchell Kilkenny got Justin Ammons to swing and miss at strike three for the second out of the inning, but he was unable to retire Jordan Rodgers who slipped a ball past the glove of a diving shortstop Austin Homan up the middle to push the equalizer across.
Brigham Hill was left with no-decision despite the solid performance on the mound. He worked 7.0 blank frames, scattering five hits and one walk while striking out six. Kilkenny (3-1) earned the win, allowing one run on two hits and one walk while striking out three in 2.0 innings.
Martin (4-4) was the tough-luck loser for the Volunteers. He allowed two runs on seven hits and three walks while striking out nine in 8.1 innings.
Shewmake led the Aggies at the plate, going 3-for-4 with two runs, one home run and one RBI.
Rodgers and Luc Lipcius each had two hits for Tennessee.
The Aggies and Volunteers return to action Saturday with a 2:02 pm contest on Olsen Field at Blue Bell Park.
TEXAS A&M QUOTES
Head Coach Rob Childress
On the game…
"It was a hard-fought Friday afternoon game. Their pitcher was outstanding. He's a senior who knows how to pitch. Brigham (Hill) was every bit as outstanding as him and Hill couldn't have pitched any better. He had to battle a little bit but we made some big plays behind him getting out of a big jam in the first and the pickoff in the sixth. I couldn't be more proud of our guys for keeping it close and finding a way to win."
On the Vols triple in the eighth…
"That's all you can ask for from (Nick) Choruby. He's made a lot of those plays before in center field and we responded. We got a big strikeout and just like that we had a chance to get off the field. We didn't panic. (Mitchell) Kilkenny threw up another zero in the ninth giving us a chance to win it in the bottom half."
Junior RHP Brigham Hill
"I have to give all the credit to our defense. Cole Bedford saved me in several situations and (Nick) Choruby made a great play out there. I just made pitches when they counted. It doesn't have to be pretty to get the win. I was just thinking 'don't give up a runs. That's my goal. Just go out there and compete."
Freshman 2B Braden Shewmake
On victory…
"It's real nice. Brigham [Hill] threw awesome. We figured out how to scratch runs when we needed to, so it's huge."
On his home run…
"You don't necessarily try to do that with two strikes but it happened and we're grateful it did."
Sophomore 3B George Janca
On his game-winning hit…
"I was just looking for a pitch up in the zone that I could get out and drive and at least be a sack fly and luckily, got in the gap and scored pretty easily. We had a bunch of innings that we could have set up really easily throughout the game but we had a hard time making big hits and making good plays behind our pitching staff that was incredible today. But overall, it's good to get a win on Friday."
Tied 1-1 in the ninth, Braden Shewmake led off the frame by punching a single up the middle off Tennessee starting pitcher Hunter Martin. The Aggies got a second man aboard when Martin was unsuccessful on making a leaping catch of a bunt by Hunter Coleman. Cole Bedford pushed both runners into scoring position with a sacrifice bunt and the Volunteers intentionally walked Blake Kopetsky to fill the bags with Ags. Janca ended the game by blasting the first pitch he saw in the at-bat to the gap where it landed for the walkoff single.
After six blank frames, Texas A&M (27-12, 9-7 SEC) broke the scoring seal in the bottom of the seventh when Shewmake hammered a 1-2 offering over the fence in right-center for his fifth home run of the season and a 1-0 lead.
Tennessee (19-16, 4-12 SEC) responded immediately with a run in the eighth. With one out, Jeff Moberg roped a ball to centerfield where Nick Choruby's attempt at a diving catch came up short and Moberg wheeled around to third with a triple. Mitchell Kilkenny got Justin Ammons to swing and miss at strike three for the second out of the inning, but he was unable to retire Jordan Rodgers who slipped a ball past the glove of a diving shortstop Austin Homan up the middle to push the equalizer across.
Brigham Hill was left with no-decision despite the solid performance on the mound. He worked 7.0 blank frames, scattering five hits and one walk while striking out six. Kilkenny (3-1) earned the win, allowing one run on two hits and one walk while striking out three in 2.0 innings.
Martin (4-4) was the tough-luck loser for the Volunteers. He allowed two runs on seven hits and three walks while striking out nine in 8.1 innings.
Shewmake led the Aggies at the plate, going 3-for-4 with two runs, one home run and one RBI.
Rodgers and Luc Lipcius each had two hits for Tennessee.
The Aggies and Volunteers return to action Saturday with a 2:02 pm contest on Olsen Field at Blue Bell Park.
TEXAS A&M QUOTES
Head Coach Rob Childress
On the game…
"It was a hard-fought Friday afternoon game. Their pitcher was outstanding. He's a senior who knows how to pitch. Brigham (Hill) was every bit as outstanding as him and Hill couldn't have pitched any better. He had to battle a little bit but we made some big plays behind him getting out of a big jam in the first and the pickoff in the sixth. I couldn't be more proud of our guys for keeping it close and finding a way to win."
On the Vols triple in the eighth…
"That's all you can ask for from (Nick) Choruby. He's made a lot of those plays before in center field and we responded. We got a big strikeout and just like that we had a chance to get off the field. We didn't panic. (Mitchell) Kilkenny threw up another zero in the ninth giving us a chance to win it in the bottom half."
Junior RHP Brigham Hill
"I have to give all the credit to our defense. Cole Bedford saved me in several situations and (Nick) Choruby made a great play out there. I just made pitches when they counted. It doesn't have to be pretty to get the win. I was just thinking 'don't give up a runs. That's my goal. Just go out there and compete."
Freshman 2B Braden Shewmake
On victory…
"It's real nice. Brigham [Hill] threw awesome. We figured out how to scratch runs when we needed to, so it's huge."
On his home run…
"You don't necessarily try to do that with two strikes but it happened and we're grateful it did."
Sophomore 3B George Janca
On his game-winning hit…
"I was just looking for a pitch up in the zone that I could get out and drive and at least be a sack fly and luckily, got in the gap and scored pretty easily. We had a bunch of innings that we could have set up really easily throughout the game but we had a hard time making big hits and making good plays behind our pitching staff that was incredible today. But overall, it's good to get a win on Friday."
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Kilkenny, Mitchell (3-1)
L: Martin, Hunter (4-4)
Batting:
3B: Moberg, Jeff 1
RBI: Rodgers, Jordan 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Moberg, Jeff 1
SB: Lipcius, Luc 1 ; Lipcius, Andre 1
CS: Southall, Reggie 1
Batting:
2B: Choruby, Nick 1 ; Bedford, Cole 1
HR: Shewmake, Braden 1
RBI: Shewmake, Braden 1 ; Janca, George 1
SH: Bedford, Cole 1 ; Blake, Cam 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Shewmake, Braden 2
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
4
R
2
H
3
RBI
1
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
C
/ BaseballOF
/ BaseballC
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
OF
/ BaseballINF
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