Aggies launch five long balls in Sunday night rout of Rice in Houston

Game #10: No. 1 Texas A&M 14, Rice 4 (7 innings)
Records: Texas A&M (6-4, 0-0), Rice (2-8, 0-0)
WP: Myles Patton (2-0)
LP: Robert Fernandez (0-1)
Box Score

HOUSTON — It's a long season, and Michael Earley's Aggies have looked a long way off their No. 1 ranking.

On Sunday, they cathartically used the long ball.

Texas A&M hit five home runs in a 14-4 comeback, run-rule victory over Rice at Daikin Park. The win puts an end to a four-game losing streak and caps off a 1-2 weekend in the Astros Foundation College Classic.

"Nothing that has went on with these guys and this group and everybody that's in our organization wasn't due to lack of care," A&M head coach Michael Earley said. "I think that care meter was through the roof, and we wanted to take a step back today and just enjoy playing."

Sunday was certainly more enjoyable than their previous four outings.

The son of a former Astro, Kaeden Kent led the way with a pair of round-trippers, including a two-run shot that got A&M off the schneid in the third. His solo blast two innings later put the Ags ahead for good.

"It felt great to get a win," Kent said. "It's huge because everybody knows we were going downhill, so when we can put up 14 and score some runs, and the chemistry and the energy in the dugout comes back, we can keep rolling into next week."

Gavin Kash's third-inning homer — a game-tying solo shot into the Crawford Boxes — was his first as an Aggie.

Wyatt Henseler's second of the weekend — a fifth-inning two-run job off the Phillips 66 platform in left center — provided insurance until Hayden Schott found the Crawford Boxes seats with a three-run line drive in the sixth to put A&M up 12-3.

For Kash and Schott, their jogs around the bases might've felt weightless as they've both battled through their respective slumps.

"It's never easy. Baseball's not the easiest sport," Kash said. "It's been tough, but it has also been fun. These guys are great, and I enjoy every moment with them. Going 0-for-20 or 20-for-20, at the end of the day, it's just about winning, and if we can do what we did today every day, it doesn't matter."

Entering Sunday, Kash had one hit in his last 19 at-bats across his previous six games. He went 2-for-2 with two walks on Sunday.

Meanwhile, Schott's blast ended an 0-for-12 drought.

"I was in the room with those guys until like one o'clock in the morning last night, and we didn't talk anything about hitting," Earley said of Kash and Schott. "It was just about, 'Hey, I need you guys. For this team to be good, I need you.'

"To their credit, their attitudes have not wavered. Their work has not changed. It's one game but a good step in the right direction."

When Kent broke the seal in the third, the Maroon & White scored in five consecutive innings, taking the lead with three in the fifth and blowing the game open in a six-run sixth.

Zoe Kelton, TexAgs

Terrence Kiel II’s team-leading batting average is up to .400 after a 3-for-4 night vs. Rice. Kiel also scored two runs in the win.​​​​​

Lost in the power surge are three-hit nights from Jace LaViolette and Terrence Kiel II, who drove in three.

In total, the Aggies scored 14 unanswered runs to erase an early 3-0 deficit that likely had a pro-A&M crowd muttering, "Here we go again."

But then the game flipped.

"We changed a little bit up, but nothing crazy," the Aggie skipper said. "It's just like, take a deep breath and go and play and win pitches and be mentally exhausted at the end of the game because you were so into every single pitch, and they did that.

"In the moment, I didn't love it, but I'm glad we got down. That got tested a little bit."

Left-handed starter Myles Patton was not sharp early, allowing a two-run double to Barrett Eldridge on a 0-2 fastball in the first before Cole Green turned around a 1-2 heater for a second-inning home run.

Yet, the Long Beach transfer retired the final nine Owls he faced, departing after accumulating seven strikeouts across five frames.

"They got on him early, but he stayed in there and kept making pitches," Earley said. "With the stuff he's got, he continued to throw strikes, and from a starting pitching perspective, if we continue to throw strikes at the rate we're doing it, we're going to be just fine."

A&M's response is what's important.

Yes, Rice is picked to finish last in the AAC. Yes, the Aggies struggled mightily earlier in the weekend.

Yes, their play has been a long way from what was expected.

But at least they'll be able to take a long, deep sigh of relief.

Maybe they'll even get a long night of sleep.

"I have not slept well since I got this job, so it'll be about the same," Earley said. "We lost two out of three, and that's not the standard here, but where we're at right now, we're going take this as a win.

"We're going to put the past behind us, and we're going to keep rolling."