Superb pitching from Lacy gives Texas A&M game one over NMSU, 8-3
Game #15: Texas A&M 8, New Mexico State 3
Records: A&M (12-3), New Mexico State (12-2)
WP: Asa Lacy (3-0)
LP: Chance Hroch (2-1)
Box Score
They don't call him 'The Ace' for nothing.
Asa Lacy put on a masterful display of pitching against New Mexico State (12-2) on Friday night, guiding Texas A&M (12-3) to an 8-3 victory in the opening game of a three-day series. The A&M lefthander exhibited pinpoint command with his blazing fastball and exploding slider, notching 13 strikeouts in his seven innings of work while not allowing a hit. However, history went by the wayside as A&M's bullpen could not complete the combined no-hitter following Lacy's departure.
"By far and way, that's the best I've seen Asa Lacy pitch since he's been at Texas A&M," head coach Rob Childress said. "He was dominating from the first inning on. I think if we kept running him out there, he would've been dominant until we had to turn the lights off."
Lacy consistently hit 94-96 mph with his fastball and had the ability to run it up to 97. He worked off that heater with a changeup and a dominant slider, a pitch that has become as firm as any in college baseball. The slider works almost like a cut-fastball and sits 86-88 mph on the radar gun. Lacy's lethal three-pitch mix makes him one of the top prospects in the game.
"He's as physical and as strong as anybody that I've ever coach as far as lefthanded pitchers go," Childress said. "Like I've said, he works and prepares as hard as anybody we have on our staff and that I've ever coached."
Lacy wasn't the only first-round prospect in action at Olsen Field on Friday evening. New Mexico State's Nick Gonzales entered the contest hitting .500 with 12 home runs in just 48 at-bats. With Lacy and Gonzales facing off, the 4,663 fans in the building were in for a treat whenever Gonzales stepped in the box. Lacy would get the best of it, holding Gonzales to 0-for-2 on the night with a strikeout and a walk.
"The adrenaline was definitely there," Lacy said of the matchup with Gonzales. "I know with a guy like him, I'm going to execute my very best pitch. That's all I tried to do; with the most intent possible, throw it where I'm trying to throw it. Luckily, it worked out."
With a goose egg still in the hit column entering the eighth inning and Lacy's pitch count sitting at 99, Rob Childress made the decision to go to the bullpen.
"As much as I wanted to go back out there, we've got a lot of guys who can finish off games," Lacy said. "This is a long season. If we're going to do something great, you got to be smart about it."
While the A&M bullpen would seal the win, the combined no-hitter bid would not last as Will Johnston allowed a hit to the first man he faced. Johnston would allow four hits and three runs without recording an out, facing just five batters in the frame.
"To do it as a team would've been really, really cool," Lacy said. "The most important part is the win tonight."
Enter Alex Magers. The freshman from D'Hanis, Texas came into the game with two on, nobody out and the dangerous Gonzales at the plate. Magers struck the likely first-rounder out on four pitches and would escape the inning with A&M leading, 7-3. Gonzales would finish 0-for-3 on the night.
"I like the pressure," Magers said. "I told (the coaching staff) that early in the fall. I want to be in the pressure situations. I want the good guy at the plate."
Offensively, Texas A&M found the timely hitting early and utilized pressure on the base paths often in response to a lineup shakeup. A pair of two-out RBI doubles from Will Frizzell and Hunter Coleman in the second opened the scoring. A three-run fifth made the score to 5-0, then a Frizzell two-run blast that threatened the railroad track in right pushed the A&M advantage to 7-0.
"I think we had a lot to prove to ourselves coming off a slow weekend," Frizzell said. "We all know how good we are when it comes to the offense flowing as a whole, and it's not one person ever. We just keep playing fast, and if we can keep doing that, we'll be really successful."
Following the three-run top of the eighth for NMSU, Bryce Blaum responded with a line-drive solo blast to left to close out the scoring.
"(The offense) is always a work in progress. I like what we did tonight," Childress said.
Texas A&M and New Mexico State will be back in action for a rare Saturday evening contest at Olsen Field with first pitch scheduled for 6:32 p.m. Christian Roa (2-1, 4.60 ERA) will start on the mound for A&M, while Chris Barraza (2-0, 1.80 ERA) takes the ball for NSMU.