Earley earns first win as A&M fights through Opening Day adversity

Game #1: No. 1 Texas A&M 4, Elon 2
Records: Texas A&M (1-0, 0-0), Elon (0-1, 0-0)
WP: Weston Moss (1-0)
LP: Hudson Narke (0-1)
Save: Clayton Freshcorn (1)
Box Score

On a chilly, misty night in Bryan-College Station, No. 11 got his first win.

So did the nation's No. 1 club.

Far from glamorous or comfortable, Texas A&M (1-0) outlasted a scare from Elon (0-1) to earn a 4-2 victory on Opening Night with 8,013 in attendance at Blue Bell Park.

In front of the largest Opening Day crowd in program history, Michael Earley won his managerial debut as A&M had to battle — just how he likes it.

"I never wanted to win any less than I do now," Earley said postgame. "Maybe it was a little ugly. I just thought we grinded it out, and I don't think I'd want it any other way, especially for our team to start off.

"Here's a little adversity to kick off the season. We told you it was going to happen. We didn't know when. It could happen game one, and it did. I was super proud of our guys pulling off the victory."

Indeed, the Aggies did just enough to get their skipper the victory.

Left-handed starter Ryan Prager, who allowed one hit and punched out eight in five innings, received no run support, and A&M's bullpen created a 2-0 hole in the sixth.

But the Ags pushed ahead in the bottom half of the inning.

With Elon starter Justin Mitrovich out of the ballgame, Wyatt Henseler singled to left, and Gavin Kash doubled to right.

Three consecutive walks and a wild pitch gave A&M a 3-2 lead. All three were charged to right-hander Hudson Narke.

"We had productive at-bats when we made outs," Earley said. "There were just a couple of at-bats we just didn't finish the at-bat. We had guys on base, and that's what we've got to do.

"Good sign early on. I was somewhat pleased with how we did with a good arm like that to start off."

Blake Binderup provided an insurance marker with an opposite-field homer to lead off the eighth.

Earning the start at first base, the College Station native finished 2-for-3 with an RBI.

"Growing up in town, all I wanted to do was play at A&M," Binderup said. "Now I have the opportunity to do that. I just go out there and try to keep things simple. It tends to work out for me when I keep things simple."

Will Huffman, TexAgs

Ryan Prager became the first Aggie starter since at least 2000 to record a scoreless outing on Opening Day in consecutive seasons.

Four unanswered runs erased the two runs charged to Peyton Smith on Alex Duffey’s double off Kaiden Wilson in the sixth.

Still, right-hander Weston Moss provided enough stability to get six outs until Clayton Freshcorn nailed down a four-out save.

"Really happy for him, happy for his family," Prager said of winning Earley's debut. "He won't say it, but he's definitely been looking forward to it. I think he has been a little anxious for it. Good to get the first one.

"For this team, we expect to win a lot. Winning is fun. It's what we deem as fun, so that's one. It might not have been the prettiest, but a win is a win."

Indeed, the Aggies fought through day one adversity. Battling weather might not be unexpected in February, but outlasting a pitchers' duel with a CAA opponent was.

And the Maroon & White passed those tests as one might expect from such a veteran and highly-ranked club.

Though it certainly wasn't pretty, but as the cliche goes: They don't ask how; they only ask how many.

For Earley, that number is one.

"I'll take any win," Earley said. "You always want to learn in a win rather than learn in a loss. I think we did that tonight, so it was great."

He’ll go for No. 2 when the series continues on Saturday at 2 p.m. CT.