Pair of three-run shots stave off scare as No. 7 A&M remains unbeaten

Game #13: No. 7 Texas A&M 7, Texas Southern 4
Records: Texas A&M (13-0), Texas Southern (4-10)
WP: Josh Stewart (1-0)
LP: Adolf Castillo (0-1)
Box Score

Not all wins come easy. 

Especially the night after the Aggies’ emotional win against their most-hated rival on the road and coming back home to face a team with nowhere near the talent as Texas A&M. 

On Wednesday night, the Maroon & White battled that adversity, defeating Texas Southern 7-4. 

“Winning is hard, and continuing to win in this sport is even harder,” A&M head coach Jim Schlossnagle said. “That's why I just told the team that the game can't be played with tension.”

That tension showed early as the Aggie bats began the game silent. 

“As soon as we don't score some runs early in this game against Texas Southern, tension, tension, tension, and it's a good lesson for us to learn,” Schlossnagle said. “Thankfully, it was not as expensive as it could have been.” 

The Tigers starting pitcher, James Malone, had the Aggie lineup off-balance early, throwing at a velocity that was much different than A&M has seen its last four games. 

“You don't have to throw hard to be a good pitcher,” Schlossnagle said. “You can throw strikes, and you can change speeds and being left-handed always helps.”

Even though the Aggies struggled, outfielder Hayden Schott said it was good for the Maroon & White.

“It’s gonna be like that in the SEC,” Schott said. “We're gonna see guys that have four different pitches at different speeds, so I think I think it's really good for us to see different speeds.”

A&M failed to record a hit until the fifth inning when the Aggie bats began to catch up to Malone. Max Kaufer led off the inning with a line-drive double into the left-field corner. After two straight walks, the Aggies had loaded the bases with no outs. 

However, the Aggies failed to make the most of the opportunity, scoring just one run on an RBI groundout from Gavin Grahovac. 

In the following inning, TSU took the lead with a two-run home run from third baseman Jaden Jones. Jones’ home run was the first given up by an Aggie pitcher this season. 

That lead would blossom to 3-1 in the seventh inning after a single from Jesse Herrera III scored Michael Goudeau. 

Unfortunately for the Tigers, that lead would not last long. 

With two outs in the bottom of the seventh, the Aggies received a crucial three-run bomb off the bat of Schott to straightaway center field, putting A&M ahead 4-3. 

“I hit a slider, and I’m never really hunting an off-speed pitch,” Schott said. “I think it was more... approach is always fastball, and if they flip me something over, I'm just going to kind of let my swing fall through with it, and that's what happened.

Katie Smith, TexAgs

Montgomery and Schott both finished 1-for-4 with a three-run homer and a walk.

“Being lucky is better than being good always, and I was very lucky tonight. It was great.” 

For some insurance, the Aggie’s three-hole Braden Montgomery homered for the third straight game, blasting a three-run shot to the opposite field. 

Getting at least one run in the eighth inning was important for the Aggies as Texas Southern got one back in the final frame. 

“That’s why you got to keep scoring,” Schlosnagle said. 

Despite last night's win over Texas, the bus ride home, and getting in late, Schott isn’t using that as an excuse for the slow start offensively. 

“There’s an excuse for literally everything in life, so I think that's kind of BS,” Schott said. “We showed up to the ballpark. We knew we had a game, and we were ready to play.

“We were hitting the ball hard. Ali Camarillo hit an absolute laser at the shortstop, and the shortstop got lucky, picked it and threw him out at second,” Schott said. “That's just kind of how it happens sometimes.” 

At the end of the day, all that ultimately matters is winning, and that’s exactly what the Aggies did as they improved to 13-0. 

“I'm proud of our team for winning,” Schlossnagle said. “If I'm disappointed in anything, it's that we're not celebrating the win.” 

A&M will have just one day to rest before playing host to Rhode Island this weekend for the final non-conference series of the year.