Getting It Done: Aggies grab tough victory over Alabama, 4-3, in extras

GAME #38: Texas A&M 4, Alabama 3
RECORDS: Texas A&M 31-7 (11-5); Alabama 23-16 (8-8)
WP: Mark Ecker (3-1)
LP: Dylan Duarte (2-2)
BOX SCORE

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When the game is on the line, you have to swing the bat.

That’s a lesson as old as the sport of baseball and A&M nearly learned it the hard way during Friday night’s 4-3 win over Alabama.

Time after time, inning after inning, the Aggies struggled to get the key hit off the Crimson Tide’s pitching staff. They struggled, that is, until the final batter of the night stepped up the plate in the form of Austin Homan. The shortstop punched a walk-off single through the left side of the infield and completely changed the story of the night.

Early on, the only problem A&M’s offense was likely thinking about was how to answer more questions about lighting up opposing pitchers.

The Aggies scored three runs in the first inning and looked to be well on their way to another 10 run performance; a mark they had equaled or bettered in each of their last seven games (tying a school record). But after Boomer White, Hunter Melton and Ryne Birk all rang up an RBI in the first frame, the Aggie offense went cold.

As for the reason behind that, you could say it was bound to happen eventually. You could look at A&M’s approach at the plate. Or, you could just look at the man on the mound for Alabama.

As it turns out, Geoffrey Bramblett, Alabama’s starting pitcher, has a history of stopping A&M’s streaks in their tracks.

Last season, Bramblett put a stop to A&M’s 24-0 record by handing them a 6-2 loss in Tuscaloosa. With that in mind, A&M head coach Rob Childress was well aware of the challenge his offense was faced with.

“Bramblett is one of the best in the conference, which means he’s one of the best in the country.” Said Childress. “He can really pitch and I was shocked we scored three in the first inning. I knew we were going to have a tough go of it as we went though the game because he’s that good.”

As impressive as Bramblett’s performance was, A&M’s arms were just as strong.

The only run scored by Alabama in the first five innings came in a wild second inning that saw A&M commit two errors on plays that should have been outs. Despite the chaos, Brigham Hill got out of the inning and ultimately threw six innings of three-run ball, only allowing four hits while striking out seven.

But Hill was much better than even those statistics go to show. With a 3-1 lead in the sixth, he gave up a two-run blast to right field that coach Childress took the blame for following the game.

“In the sixth inning, I made a mistake as far as a pitch call and they made us pay for it,” he said, “But I thought Brigham’s stuff was as good as it has been all year long and he competed well for us tonight.”

Following Hill’s exit, Andrew Vinson and Mark Ecker each posted two shutout innings. They were quite simply fantastic and gave A&M a chance to win the ballgame. A chance they nearly squandered with situations like the one that occurred in the eighth.

After Michael Barash got the inning started with a leadoff single, three Aggies struck out looking; leaving Barash stranded on the base paths. Included in the group that struck out was Austin Homan, but rest assured, he would soon redeem himself.

In the 10th inning, with runners on first and second, Homan stepped to the plate. While he had struggled through the previous four at-bats, he was ready for his moment. That quality is something that stands out to his teammate, Boomer White, who went 4-5 on the night.

“Austin is a fighter at the plate,” Said White. “He’s not a guy that is going to blast it over your head, but he’s going to give you his best shot every time.”

That shot in the 10th inning was a hard hit grounder through the left side on an 0-2 count that scored Michael Barash and gave the Ags a walk-off win.

“My heart was racing. I can barely remember it,” Said Homan of his hero moment. “(Down two strikes) I knew I had to compete at the plate and do whatever I could to put the ball in play.”

With the game on the line, you have to swing the bat.

 Austin Homan did just that.