Timely hitting and solid defense lead Texas A&M to 8-5 win over Rice

The Texas A&M baseball was looking for a shimmer of confidence after going 0-4 a week ago and getting swept at home by Kentucky to open SEC play. They found that and more, using timely hitting, incredible defense, and strong senior leadership en route to a 8-5 victory.

"Hard fought victory with both teams in the same boat coming off of last week," said head coach Rob Childress. "We made some great defensive plays and offensively did a lot of great things.  I am very proud of our seniors. They made some amazing defensive plays and were on base nine times tonight."

Despite a slow start that included starter Corbin Martin giving up two runs on four hits in only three innings of work, the Aggies would find their stride in the fourth inning. A&M notched one run in the fourth, three in the fifth, two in the seventh, and one in the eighth to secure the win.  

All told, the Aggies banged out eleven total hits with eight different players grabbing base knocks. Austin Homan, Logan Foster, and Joel Davis led the offensive charge, each logging a multiple hit game.

"Our team had a lot of big hits tonight, especially on hit-and-runs. We always say a bat moving is a dangerous bat, so you can't really second guess yourself on a hit-and-run," said Davis. "It was really big for us to get those working. We needed to stop the skid, and the seniors played good tonight."

Davis got the A&M scoring started in the second inning by blasting a no-doubt solo home run over the fence in right field to tie the contest 1-1. Rice answered with a run of its own in each the third and fourth to take a 3-1 lead, but the barrage of Aggie runs began in the bottom of the fourth.

The Aggies loaded the bases with nobody out, and Joel Davis delivered a sacrifice fly to center to score Austin Homan from third. That was all A&M could muster in the inning, but the next frame had more in store. 

Three straight one-out singles, a Homan RBI single, and a Braden Shewmake sacrifice fly would result in a pair of runs. Logan Foster imposed the remaining damage by delivering a two-out, RBI double to the right-center gap to make the score 5-3.

In the seventh inning, the Aggies notched four straight hits, with Foster and Davis clubbing back to back RBI shots, pushing the lead to 7-3. But the damage was not done for the night. In the eighth inning, A&M loaded the bases with no outs. A Shewmake sacrifice fly scored the final run of the evening for the Aggies.

"We had been struggling at the plate, but the coaches talked to us about maybe trying to do too much up there," said Homan. "Being the best version of yourself is all you need to be, and today I think we went back to that. It definitely showed."

The no error effort on defense was led by seniors Homan, Kopetsky, and late insert Walker Pennington. 

All three players made plays worthy of SportCenter Top 10 spots or Baseball Tonight webgem nominations. Homan made the first play by laying out, fully extended on a ground ball up the middle. He threw to first to beat the runner by a half step. Kopetsky arguably one-upped Homan by going full sprint into the wall in left-center to make a stellar catch, holding onto the ball despite being briefly crumpled by the collision. Pennington capped it off with a play very similar to Kopetsky's, with a leaping catch at the wall (though avoiding the crash Kopetsky experienced).

"I didn't think those balls were going to get out of the yard. I just didn't think we would catch them," said Childress. "Both Pennington and Kopetsky made amazing plays, and Austin Homan made an amazing play at shortstop. Again I can't say enough about the seniors."

Freshman John Doxakis, who usually starts each Tuesday contest, relieved Martin in the fourth inning. Despite surrendering an early run that inning, Doxakis finished the evening with his first collegiate win. The Houston native threw four innings of three-hit, one-run baseball while also striking out four and walking none.

"I wasn't planning on coming in, giving up two hits, and, hitting a guy. Childress came out there and gave me a message that really got me going," said Doxakis. "I knew I couldn't let those hits get to me and good things would happen. Be the aggressor, and there was a lot of help from the defense."

The win is Texas A&M's 182nd win against Rice overall. The Aggies got back on track tonight, and this weekend they turn their attention to SEC East foe Vanderbilt, travelling to Nashville for a three-game set starting Friday at 6:30.