.. so instead of saying much, I'm going to go about today's recap a little differently. The Aggies hit the road to take on a Texas State team that came into the game with a 17-22 record and #174 in the RPI. In case you're not familiar with RPI (aka, haven't read any of my articles), let me break it down for you. 174 is REALLY BAD. OK, good, moving on.
So, Corey Ray got the start in this one and the first 2 innings went a little something like this...
Yeah. Ray lasted just 1 2/3 innings and allowed 4 runs - just 2 earned thanks to an A&M error, not to mention a passed ball - to go along with 2 walks and no strikeouts. The Aggies had started the game with a 2-out RBI double by Cole Lankford in the 1st, but Ray let the Bobcats right back in the game.
The Aggies led off the 3rd, 4th and 5th innings with hits. How did that work out? Glad you asked.
Andrew Vinson led off the 3rd with a double and was advanced to 3rd on a groundout. The Aggies managed to do nothing with a runner on 3rd and 1 out by grounding out twice to the pitcher to end the inning. Lankford and Stein led off the 4th with a pair of singles to bring up the hard hitting Hunter Melton. $5 if you can guess what was called for Melton! Yes, everyone wins $5 because we all know he bunted. YAY SMALL BALL! Regardless, it advanced the runners to 2nd and 3rd with 1 out. So, naturally, we ground into a fielders choice that gets Lankford thrown out at home and strike out to end that inning. Vinson led off the 5th with another hit, this time a single, but after a fly out by Allemand he was picked off 1st.
Trailing by 3 runs in the 7th inning, Brandon Wood smacked a 1-out triple into left. Rally time, right?! Well...
Good stuff there. I think that about sums it up. Jace Statum struck out swinging for the 2nd out of the inning, and then Rob Childress elected to pull the 2-for-2 Andrew Vinson in favor of the recently ice cold at the plate Daniel Mengden. Righty-lefty matchups are SUPER IMPORTANT, you guys. Oh, Mengden grounded out.
I will give some credit to the A&M bullpen in this one, though. They were forced to work over 6 innings but held the Bobcats scoreless and gave the Aggies every opportunity to get themselves back in the game. Matt Kent, Parker Ray, A.J. Minter and Jason Jester - this is for y'all.
Up Next
The Aggies hit the road to Tuscaloosa this weekend for a series against Alabama, a team that is fighting for a regional berth and currently sits just ahead of A&M in the SEC West standings. If A&M wants anything resembling a chance of making the NCAA tournament, they must win this series. The Aggies dropped from 34 to 43 in the RPI courtesy of that Texas State debacle last night, but Alabama comes in at #35 so A&M could make a move this weekend with a series win. Yes, you can laugh. I think we all know how that's gonna go. Regardless, I'm hoping to have a preview done tomorrow if I haven't drowned myself in beer or tears by then.
I'll leave you with a pretty accurate summary of the current state of the Aggies postseason push, courtesy of reader and Twitter follower @FeFiFoFamby.
via media.tumblr.com
