Kilkenny, Andritsos shine as Texas A&M completes sweep of Cornell, 8-2
WP: Mitchell Kilkenny (2-0)
LP: Tim Willittes (0-1)
For the second straight week, Mitchell Kilkenny was overpowering on the mound and got plenty of run support as the Aggies completed another sweep with an 8-2 victory over visiting Cornell on Saturday afternoon.
Kilkenny carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning, striking out eight without a walk. He was pulled in the seventh after allowing his first hit and finished with a 6.1-inning gem.
“No different than any other day,” Kilkenny said after the game. “Coach gives us a mission and we just have to go carry it out.”
The Aggies immediately got going offensively in the first as Zach DeLoach and Michael Helman each drew walks, moved up on a groundout and then scored on a two-run double by Chris Andritsos.
Andritsos, fresh off Friday night’s cycle, was the offensive star again in this one, as he reached base all four times, hit three doubles and scored twice. The 6-4 slugger from The Woodlands went 7-for-9 on the weekend with a whopping six extra-base hits, bringing his season average up to an even .400 after a 1-for-11 start.
“We’re so thankful to have him in our lineup and that we didn’t lose him for a couple of months with last week’s injury,” head coach Rob Childress said of Andritsos. “He’s important in our lineup. He’s another threat — as a pitcher you have to make great pitches to get through the middle of the order.”
Cole Bedford doubled and scored on a wild pitch in the second, and the Aggies put up multiple runs in the fourth and sixth innings to effectively put the game out of reach.
Andritsos led off the fourth with a walk and, after Will Frizzell reached base on an error, Logan Foster drilled a single off the shortstop’s glove for an RBI single. After an infield single by Bedford, Allonte Wingate grounded into a double play to score Foster from third.
Two innings later, Andritsos and Frizzell started the sixth with consecutive doubles, and Foster plated Frizzell moments later by serving an RBI single into right. Later in the inning, DeLoach hit a sacrifice fly to give the Aggies an 8-0 lead.
That was all that Kilkenny would need, as he settled in and registered several low-pitch innings in the middle of the game. He threw fewer than 15 pitches in each frame after the second, only going to two three-ball counts all afternoon.
“The offense made it really easy,” Kilkenny said. “They gave us momentum at the beginning of the game and so all I had to do was go out there and do exactly what we’ve been practicing.”
Kilkenny’s no-hitter was finally broken up with one out in the seventh as Dale Wickham singled to right-center field. With his pitch count at 89, Kilkenny handed the ball to Christian Roa, who allowed one hit but got through the inning without any runs crossing the plate.
John Doxakis struck out two in a scoreless eighth before Cason Sherrod surrendered two runs on two walks and a hit in the ninth.
The Aggies tagged Cornell starter Tim Willittes for eight runs in five innings before Seth Urbon came in and tossed three innings of scoreless relief.
Defensively, A&M played 27 innings of error-free baseball in the field this weekend, allowing the pitching staff to limit the Big Red to only four runs in three games.
“It was a quick turnaround after 18 innings yesterday,” Childress said. “To come out and play clean baseball today, I’m very proud of the maturity and finishing off the week the right way.”
The Aggies return to the diamond on Tuesday, February 27, for a home contest against Houston Baptist. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. and the game can be streamed on SEC Network +.