A&M overpowered in seven innings as Alabama forces rubber match
Game #51: Alabama 12, Texas A&M 1
Records: Texas A&M (30-21, 12-14), Alabama (34-17, 12-14)
WP: Garrett McMillan (2-2)
LP: Will Johnston (3-3)
Box Score
The Aggie offense indulged in a generous feast in the series opener with six homers.
On Saturday, they suffered a brutal famine.
Lethargic across all phases, Texas A&M failed to clinch the series victory as Alabama punched back with a 12-1 run-rule beatdown on a rainy afternoon at Blue Bell Park.
Despite outscoring opponents 40-10 through the previous four games, the A&M bats sputtered almost completely.
Freshman Jace LaViolette pounded his team-leading 15th home run of the season in the sixth inning to account for their lone run of the day.
Jordan Thompson struck out looking the next at-bat and a lightning delay was subsequently called that suspended the game for 33 minutes.
But it was only delaying the inevitable.
An 11-run deficit is a formidable challenge for any team to overcome or even chip at.
Even more so for an Aggie lineup that struggled to find a spark.
“Crimson Tide put it on us,” A&M head coach Jim Schlossnagle said. “Nick Saban running the score up over there. They beat us in every phase and just trying to get through the game once we got down with some guys that hadn't pitched in a while.
“Give all the credit to Alabama, just gotta be ready to go tomorrow.”
The bats may have stayed silent, but the A&M pitching staff gradually collapsed and resulted in a complete breakdown.
With the threat of severe weather carrying into Sunday, junior Will Johnston (3-3) made his third start of the season and stumbled immediately, giving up a three-run homer to Andrew Pinckney in the first inning.
Johnston walked a season-high four batters, but managed to dial in his command towards the final stretch of his outing as he tallied five strikeouts through 2.2 innings of work.
Sophomore Chris Cortez relieved Johnston and was wobbly through 1.2 innings, ultimately charged with four hits and three runs. Carson Lambert allowed two homers that washed away all hopes and put the game completely out of reach.
“Everybody knows what's at stake and every single game has tremendous value,” Schlossnagle said. “You gotta play better baseball, you can't set the table, you can't give up free bases … So we gotta make better pitches.”
It was a different story for Alabama on the mound. Starter Garrett McMillan cruised through 6.0 innings and struck out seven.
McMillan’s dominance proved to be the difference in a contest so starkly different from Friday.
With the home finale ahead and the postseason rapidly approaching, the Aggies hope to brush off Saturday as a mere blip in the overarching story.
“They just came out swinging it great,” A&M infielder Austin Bost said. “Their pitcher was throwing a lot of strikes, keeping us off balance. We just weren’t on it like we were yesterday but that’s all right. It’s baseball, onto the next.”
