Britt-ish bombardment blows out No. 23 Patriots in run-rule, 14-1
Game #36: Texas A&M 14, No. 23 Dallas Baptist 1
Records: Texas A&M (23-13, 8-7), Dallas Baptist (23-13, 4-2)
WP: Ryan Prager (1-1)
LP: Zach Heaton (3-2)
Box Score
Great Britt-ain.
The offensive fireworks carried over from this weekend as Texas A&M mashed their way to a rare run-rule victory on Tuesday night, routing No. 23 Dallas Baptist, 14-1, in seven innings.
Logan Britt enjoyed a fantastic evening with the wind blowing out to left, launching his seventh and eighth home runs of the season and driving in four runs.
"We were going back and forth on who we were going to DH, but we felt the matchup was best with Britt," Texas A&M head coach Jim Schlossnagle said.
It proved to be the right decision as Britt homered in the first and again in the third.
"Going into the weekend, we just smashed a ranked team," Britt said. "We have all the confidence in the world going into Arkansas."
The second of Britt's blasts traveled an estimated 416 feet and left the bat at 103 mph.
"It feels pretty effortless," Britt said. "It was hit pretty good. I didn't get a chance to watch it. I just put my head down and ran the bases."
A&M's five round-trippers on Tuesday night are the most for the Aggies since they hit six dingers vs. Samford on March 13, 2021.
The Aggies scored in each of their six at-bats, including a six-run bombardment in the first inning that featured homers from Brett Minnich and Austin Bost as well as Britt's first.
A&M's second consecutive offensive outburst provided more than enough run support for Ryan Prager in his return to the rotation. The freshman left-hander worked 3.2 innings of one-run ball to earn his first collegiate victory in the abbreviated game.
"He has pitched well enough in other instances to get that, and he has had other opportunities," Schlossnagle said of Prager.
Troy Claunch drove in a run in the second before Britt launched a two-run bomb in the third.
In the fourth, four consecutive two-out knocks translated into two more A&M runs before Claunch hit his third home run of the season, a two-run shot to left-center.
"They ended my career at Oregon State, so it was kind of nice to get that win on them tonight," Claunch said of DBU.
A Jordan Thompson RBI double in the sixth closed the scoring in the lopsided affair.
Through their last two ball games, the Aggies have consumed a large number of pringles after scoring a staggering 37 runs in two wins over ranked opponents.
"I only get one when we win," Schlossnagle said of the Aggies' pringle tradition. "If I get one then it's a good day."
With yet another impressive win, Schlossnagle's upstart Ags are making a strong case to crack the top-25 themselves.
"I don't know if it's underdog mentality, but it's more desperate to win," Schlossnagle said. "No disrespect to anybody we play, but that's the mentality of this team. When you win one, you want to win two, and when you win two, you want to win three.
"The best teams are the ones that are most desperate to win."
Against ranked foes this season, Texas A&M is 7-2 as the team’s RPI continues to rise.
Sitting at 38th in RPI entering Tuesday, a bludgeoning of the No. 2 Patriots will likely help the Maroon & White climb even higher as an NCAA Regional berth is squarely within reach.
"We just like being the underdog mentality," Britt said. "If you're going to look over us, we'll show you why we deserve to be in the top-25."
Another chance to prove themselves looms with No. 4 Arkansas heading to College Station for a three-game series beginning Friday night.
"Hopefully the 12th Man will show up. I know they will," Schlossnagle said.