Schlossnagle earns first win at A&M as Werner shines & Dettmer deals, 13-1

Game #1: Texas A&M 13, Fordham 1
Records: Texas A&M (1-0, 0-0 in SEC), Fordham (0-1, 0-0 in A10)
WP: Nathan Dettmer (1-0)
LP: Gabe Karlso (0-1)
Box Score

New chapter with a storybook open. 

Head coach Jim Schlossnagle earned the first victory of his Texas A&M tenure with a 13-1 rout of Fordham on Friday night at Olsen Field at Blue Bell Park. Nine different Aggies crossed home plate, while seven different Aggies recorded a hit in the blowout win.

"It was everything I thought it would be," Schlossnagle said of his Aggie debut. "It's nice to get that first one, and hopefully with a warmer day tomorrow, everybody will come back, plus some."

Jamie Maury, TexAgs

Texas A&M’s high-powered offense was fueled by Trevor Werner’s domination inside the batter’s box. 

At the plate and in the field, Trevor Werner was sensational. The Aggie third baseman began 2022 with a steller 3-for-4 line that included two doubles, four RBIs, two runs and a walk.

"I felt like I was prepared going in and just saw pitches well and hit the good ones and took the bad ones," Werner said.

Werner's first double scored Brett Minnich in the second to tie the contest, 1-1.

"That's something that we've seen a lot of in practice," Schlossnagle said. "We have pretty high regard for Trevor, and I thought he played really hard too. Ran the bases well obviously and played with some energy, so it's fun to see him have success."

Austin Bost put the Ags in front with a third-inning sacrifice fly that plated Logan Britt. A&M never relinquished the advantage.

A three-run fifth gave the home nine a 5-1 lead and served as a warning of what was to come.

A&M blew the contest open with an eight-run seventh in which 14 Aggies went to the plate as Fordham pitching issued six walks. The lengthy half-inning took 44 minutes to complete.

Werner was just as good in the field, making numerous difficult plays, including a diving stop towards the third baseline coupled with a missile across the diamond to end the top of the seventh.

"He shows off his arm and the accuracy of his arm," Schlossnagle said. "It was a good night for Trevor, and I'm happy for him."

Werner even ended the game by charging a chopper and throwing on the run, a play which he called his favorite.

"Fielded it with a little backhand, kind of looked at the ball, looked at the dugout," Werner said. "Everybody knew it was the last out of the game, so I just hummed it across. It felt good."

After coughing up a run in the first, starting pitcher Nathan Dettmer dazzled. The sophomore right-hander struck out seven over six innings of work without allowing a single walk. 

"When I was controlling the fastball and getting ahead of guys, they pretty much got themselves out," Dettmer said. "That was a big upside to my defense. It really worked out for me."

Jamie Maury, TexAgs

Fordham struggled to find answers against Nathan Dettmer as the Aggie starter allowed just one run in six innings.

Fordham managed just three hits against Dettmer before he gave way to Jacob Palisch in the seventh. Their lone run reached via a hit-by-pitch — the only free pass issued by A&M pitching.

"He did a nice job," Schlossnagle said of Dettmer. "Made a nice play, pitched with some emotion. Had some confidence and good body language, which is something we've been preaching hard with him.”

Offensively, Texas A&M stranded eight runners through the first six innings and 12 total on the night. However, Werner said that's no cause for alarm.

"That's going to happen," Werner said. "It could've been first-day jitters."

Those butterflies quickly disappeared as the Jim Schlossnagle era is off to quite the start.

"Every guy in this locker room has put in a lot of work with [Schlossnagle]," Werner said. "The amount of effort he has put into each and every guy is tremendous, and to see that pay off for him tonight with his first win - he broke the team out to 'family' - that was great."

The Aggies will roll with some momentum as they continue their three-game set with Fordham on Saturday afternoon. First pitch game two is set for 2 p.m. CT at "The Corner" of Bush and Olsen.