Texas A&M baseball (21-5, 5-1 SEC) completed its second perfect week of the season with a big series sweep of Kentucky in Lexington.
Last weekend Texas A&M baseball faced their first true road series of the year with a trip to Kentucky. Before that happened, the Aggies welcomed Rice to Blue Bell Park. The Aggies jumped on the Owls early with a big home run by Ty Coleman in the first.
Bryce Blaum and Jonathan Ducoff provided the rest of the offense as A&M put away the Owls (8-3). Chris Weber got the start going 2.2 innings before Chandler Jozwiak and four other relievers went the rest of the way. The Aggies only gave up three hits and three runs which is very positive for a midweek game.
Moving to the weekend and facing a team in Kentucky that is technically rebuilding was a great test for a team still trying to find themselves even after the series win over No. 1 Vanderbilt.
On Friday, John Doxakis got the start and Aggie fans were all hoping the Doxakis we saw in the beginning of the season would come back. That unfortunately did not happen and the Aggies found themselves behind by three heading to the fourth.
The Aggie offense got going thanks in part to Braden Shewmake and the Coleman brothers. Although the offense is still a bit challenged, the last few games have started to show that this group is very gritty and will continue to fight until the 27th out is recorded. A&M took the opener (5-3) to push their win streak to four.
Saturday’s game was a bit of a mixed bag if you’re an Aggie fan. Let’s talk about the good: starter Asa Lacy went six, giving up only three hits and one run while striking out 13. The offense was paced by Shewmake (two hits, four RBIs), Blaum (four hits, three runs scored) and Will Frizzell (two hits, two RBIs). Mikey Hoehner also contributed with a big home run in the fifth.
The bad: the Aggies walked three, had three errors and gave up two stolen bases. A team with better personnel will take advantage of the extra at bats and opportunities. Luckily, A&M overcame all of that with three home runs, 13 hits and seven extra base runners due to mistakes by the Wildcats. A&M would win the game (9-3), take the series and look for the big series sweep heading into Sunday.
Chrisitan Roa got the start looking to build off his impressive outing against Vandy, however, that start lasted only for two recorded outs. Roa gave up two hits, two runs (one earned), walked two and hit a batter. Joseph Menefee, Chris Weber, and Bryce Miller would finish the rest of the game giving up three runs, eight hits and striking out 12.
The Aggies had their best game of the season offensively. A&M had 19 hits (seven for extra bases) which propelled them to an eight run fifth inning and a six run ninth. The final score would end up being (17-5) to give the Aggies their first SEC series sweep since Alabama last year.
With those results, A&M moved up several spots in each poll.
- Perfect Game / Rawlings – up six spots to No. 11
- NCBWA – up seven spots to No. 12
- Baseball America – up five spots to No. 12
- D1Baseball – up three spots to No. 10
- Coaches – up seven spots to No. 11
- Collegiate Baseball – up eight spots to No. 11
This week, the Ags only play one midweek game, that will be against Lamar. SEC play continues this weekend with Missouri coming to Blue Bell Park.
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