Lacy, Andritsos have big days as Aggies pull away from Georgia late, 7-0
Game #57: Texas A&M 7, Georgia 0
Records: Texas A&M (38-19, 15-17 SEC), Georgia (37-18, 18-13 SEC)
WP: Asa Lacy (3-1)
LP: CJ Smith (1-1)
SV: Cason Sherrod (1)
Box Score
Mother Nature rained down on Texas A&M for the second day in a row, but even another hour rain delay wasn’t enough to break Asa Lacy’s rhythm.
The freshman lefty from Kerrville blanked No. 7 Georgia for six innings and the Aggie offense exploded late to carry A&M to a convincing 7-0 victory to advance to the next round of the SEC Tournament in Hoover, Alabama.
“I just tried to stay locked in, stay in the glove and make pitches,” Lacy said after the game. “We played error-free baseball, which helps out a lot, and then in the fourth inning we got two runs that allowed me to relax a little bit and just keep making pitches.”
Immediately after the Aggies knocked out Vanderbilt on Tuesday behind sterling pitching performances by Kaylor Chafin and Nolan Hoffman, Rob Childress knew he wanted Lacy on the mound against the Bulldogs. Lacy did not disappoint, as he turned in his longest outing of the season by scattering three hits over six innings while striking out eight.
“I felt like the left-hander was the matchup for Georgia,” Childress said. “Lacy was the most rested and ready to go, and I felt like his overpowering stuff was going to give us a chance. If we had to go to the bullpen in the third, fourth or fifth inning, we would have been okay with that, but Asa would not allow that.”
The delay occurred in the middle of the third inning as lightning was detected in the area, and it was prolonged further when rain started pouring down over Hoover Metropolitan Complex.
The Aggie bats, like Lacy’s arm, was not hampered at all by the stoppage. Braden Shewmake and Chris Andritsos started a rally in the fourth inning with back-to-back singles and, after Shewmake was erased on a fielder’s choice, Logan Foster put the first run of the game on the board with an RBI single to right.
Allonte Wingate followed moments later with an infield chopper between first and second base that he beat out for another RBI single.
No more insurance runs were ultimately needed as the Aggies tossed a shutout on the mound, but that didn’t keep Andritsos from going to work in the seventh. After Michael Helman reached base with two outs on a hit-by-pitch and moved to second on an errant pickoff attempt, Georgia elected to intentionally walk Shewmake to bring up Andritsos.
The Oklahoma transfer made the Bulldogs instantly regret that decision when he launched a first-pitch changeup from Georgia reliever Tony Locey over the wall in left field for a three-run homer.
Andritsos added another solo shot in the ninth, this one a two-strike skyscraper to left, and then Foster tripled and scored later in the inning to stretch the Aggie lead to 7-0.
“Chris is finally healthy — he’s had a rough year and dealt with some hand issues,” Childress said of Andritsos. “You just start to see the bat speed coming back and when he’s in the lineup, he raises the other team’s blood pressure. He’s got a chance to challenge the fences every time he’s in the box and just to have that presence is really important in any lineup.”
In all, the Aggies scored five of their seven runs with two outs and came through with big hits throughout the contest. Eight different A&M hitters recorded a hit, including four multi-hit efforts.
“It was a relentless attack from one-through-nine,” Andritsos said of the offensive performance. “Guys were pitching it and coming at us, but we were just relentless up there.”
Cason Sherrod relieved Lacy in the seventh and notched a fantastic outing that closely resembled Hoffman’s nine out save 24 hours before. Sherrod allowed only one baserunner in his three hitless innings of work, striking out five to earn his first save of the season.
“All in all, you have to tip your cap to their pitching staff,” Georgia head coach Scott Stricklin said. “I thought they were really good today with good defense behind them.
“We didn’t play our best baseball today and a lot of that had to do with Texas A&M. They were really, really good today and they deserve a lot of credit.”
With Sherrod and Hoffman being so effective and durable out of the bullpen, the Aggies have only had to use four pitchers in their two wins. Everyone else on the staff is fresh and ready to go, a luxury that Childress will enjoy for the duration of the tournament.
“I couldn’t be any happier,” Childress said of the status of his pitching staff. “We’ve only used four guys, we haven’t thrown our normal weekend rotation yet and that’s a great place to be. It’s nice that we got the performances we did moving forward not only this week but next week as well.”
Mitchell Kilkenny will take the ball for the Aggies on Thursday at 4:30 p.m as A&M will square off against the winner of Ole Miss and Auburn.
