Texas A&M pitching staff silences Binghamton in regional opener, 4-2

GAME #60: Texas A&M 4, Binghamton 2
RECORDS: Texas A&M 46-14 (20-10 SEC); Binghamton 30-24
WP: Kyle Simonds (10-3)
LP: Mike Bunal (8-4)
S: Mark Ecker (7)
BOX SCORE

---

In the world of sports -- and especially the world of baseball -- there are going to be days where nothing seems to go your way. Mental mistakes, overconfidence and just plain bad luck can snowball, and teams often lose games they shouldn't.

Texas A&M didn't let that happen on Friday.

In a game that was tighter than most expected, Texas A&M got a solid performance from its pitching staff and overcame distractions, quiet bats and a fiesty Binghamton squad to open the College Station Regional with a win, 4-2.

It was a dogfight from the get-go.

Kyle Simonds started the game on the mound for the Aggies, and it took a while for him to settle in on the mound. Giving up three straight singles in the first inning, Simonds was shaky out of the gates.

Thankfully for the Aggies, his defense had his back. With Binghamton threatening to get on the board early, Nick Banks picked up a two-out single in right field and gunned down a runner at the plate to preserve the scoreless tie.

It didn't take long for the Aggies to break it. After a Michael Barash single in the second inning, senior Jonathan Moroney crushed a two-run home run to straightaway center field to give Texas A&M the lead.

The Aggies proceeded to load the bases with two outs, eventually tacking on another run after an error by Bearcat shortstop Paul Rufo and going up, 3-0.

The crooked number on the scoreboard seemed to herald a runaway win for the top-seeded Aggies, but the Bearcats continued to hang around after the explosive second inning.

Simonds issued a lead-off walk in the fourth inning. The runner eventually came around to score on a two-out, Austin Homan throwing error, cutting the A&M lead to 3-1.

The Ags got the run back one frame later after an error by Bearcat third baseman David Schanz put runners on the corners and Austin Homan singled to drive in a run and push the lead to three, 4-1.

Simonds ran into trouble in the sixth, plunking the first two hitters and giving up an RBI-single before getting pulled for senior Andrew Vinson.

Simply put, Vinson was outstanding.

In his 2.2 innings, the veteran struck out six of the nine batters he faced and gave up just one hit, a single to center field. Effectively slamming the door on the Bearcats, Vinson kept the Aggies on track as the game got chippy in the sixth inning and onward and both benches ended up with warnings.

"(Our guys) were doing their best to keep their poise and their composure as to being able to finish that game off the right way," head coach Rob Childress said. "I thought Andrew went out and had a great eighth inning when we needed it the most."

Mark Ecker took the ball from Vinson in the ninth and ended the game in six pitches, giving up a single en route to the win, 4-2. On a night when things didn't always go his way, Childress was just happy to leave with a victory.

"We were very fortunate to come out on the winning end tonight," he said. "We got a really good start from Kyle Simonds. When we went to the bullpen, Andrew and Mark did a good job of making that stand up."

"From an offensive standpoint," he continued, "I thought we did a really good job of setting up some innings. We didn't get a whole lot of big hits to knock them down, but we got enough to win and move on to tomorrow night."

Texas A&M advanced into the winner's bracket with the win and will face 3-seed Wake Forest tomorrow at 8 p.m. with a place in the regional championship on the line.