Texas A&M
6-0
Penn State
0-5
Baseball Rolls to Sixth Straight Win
Feb 21, 2015 | Baseball
COLLEGE STATION, Texas – The Texas A&M Aggies continued to put up runs galore in 2015 as the Maroon and White toppled the Penn State Nittany Lions, 15-2, Saturday afternoon on Olsen Field at Blue Bell Park.
The win gave the Aggies their first 6-0 start since the 2011 season. A&M posted double digits in the runs column for the third time on the year and logged double digits in the hits column for the fifth time in 2015.
The Aggies also notched their 10th home run of the season. Last year, A&M's 10th dinger didn't come until the 30th game of the season.
In addition to the 12 hits, the Maroon and White worked eight base on balls and the Aggies were hit by a pitch on four occasions.
Eleven different players logged hits for A&M and 13 different players reached base either with a hit or via the walk. Ryne Birk was the lone Aggie with multiple hits, going 2-for-4 with one double, one run and two RBI. Blake Allemand had a team-high three RBI and GR Hinsley scored three runs and accounted for A&M's home run.
A&M needed just one hit to score three runs in the bottom of the first inning. JB Moss worked a leadoff walk and scored when Birk doubled to the gap in right center. Birk scored with the help of a two-base error on a grounder to short by Mitchell Nau. A passed ball moved Nau to third and he scored on a groundout to short by Logan Nottebrok staking the Aggies to a 3-0 lead.
Penn State (0-5) was unable to take advantage of a pair of singles and a walk in the second inning. Christian Helsel started the frame with a bunt single and a one-out single up the middle by Tyler Kendall put runners on the corners. Nick Riotto struck out swinging for the second out of the inning, but Aaron Novak drew a walk to load the bases. With Alex Malinsky at the plate, Kendall was wandered too far off second base and A&M starting pitcher Grayson Long put the ball on the glove of shortstop Allemand for the inning-ending pickoff.
The Aggies inflated the cushion to 5-0 in the second with a sacrifice fly by Birk and an RBI single by Nau.
Texas A&M added single runs in the third and fifth to push the lead to 7-0. In the third, Nottebrok hit a leadoff double to the gap in right centerfield and Nick Banks followed with an infield single. After Ronnie Gideon struck out for the first out of the inning, Allemand knocked in Nottebrok with a sacrifice fly. In the fifth, Moss drew a bases-loaded walk.
The Nittany Lions showed life in the sixth, breaking the scoring seal with a two-out rally. After Taylor Skerpon and Ryky Smith popped up to start the inning, Greg Guers reached on an error by Aggie first baseman Hinsley, moved to third on a single by Helsel and scored on an infield single by Ryan Richter.
Penn State scored another run in the seventh to shave the lead to 7-2. With one out, Novak singled to centerfield and Malinsky doubled down the leftfield line to plate Novak.
The Aggies wrestled the momentum back from the Nittany Lions in the home half of the seventh. With one out, Nick Choruby drew a walk and Hinsley followed with his first career home run to give A&M a 9-2 lead.
The wheels came off the wagon for Penn State in the eighth as A&M sent 10 batters to the plate in a six-run frame. The rally started when Blake Kopetsky threaded a one-out triple down the rightfield line. After a pair of walks, Allemand and Choruby both hit two-run doubles for a 13-2 advantage. And the cavalcade of runs came to a close with RBI infield singles by Jonathan Moroney and Michael Barash.
Long (1-0) earned the win for the Aggies. He yielded just one unearned run on five hits and one walk while striking out three over 6.0 innings. Turner Larkins allowed one run in the seventh on two hits. Ty Schlottmann needed just nine pitches to retire all three batters he faced in the eighth. Ryan Hendrix allowed a leadoff hit in the ninth inning, but turned a 6-4-3 double play on his 10th pitch of the appearance to end the game.
Nick Distasio was saddled with the loss for Penn State. He allowed six runs, one earned, on five hits and two walks while striking out two in 4.0 innings.
Helsel paced the Nittany Lions at the plate, going 3-for-4 with a double.
The Aggies look to sweep the three-game series on Sunday as the teams square off on Olsen Field at Blue Bell Park in a 12:05 pm affair. The Maroon and White will look for their first 7-0 start since the 2006 campaign.
TEXAS A&M QUOTES
Head coach Rob Childress
On Grayson Long's performance...
“He kept it together. I think that was in the back of is mind going into today. Once he got into the fight I felt like he was more competitive and stopped worrying about being perfect and he just competed. That's one of his strengths. I saw a lot of the old Grayson in last four innings.”
On making plays on both side of the ball...
“It's been really satisfying the last two days. We've been really good defensively and that's what we're capable of and we have to be consistent from that standpoint if we are going to win close games and we are going to be in a lot of close games as the season goes along.”
Senior first baseman G.R Hinsley
On if he was surprised by hitting an opposite field home run...
“No I couldn't have done it with the guys in front of me but I just put a swing on it. I was trying to get a line drive somewhere trying to score a run and it just happened to go there, that's what happened.”
Junior pitcher Grayson Long
On getting stronger as the game went along...
I started getting a better feel for it as we went along. Coach (Childress) and I started debating whether I should go back out, for the seventh, or not, but it was probably best for the team to get some work for the bullpen.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Long, Grayson (1-0)
L: Distasio, Nick (0-2)
Batting:
2B: Helsel, Christian 1 ; Malinsky, Alex 1
RBI: Richter, Ryan 1 ; Malinsky, Alex 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Guers, Greg 1 ; Novak, Aaron 1
PO: Kendall, Tyler 1
Batting:
2B: Birk, Ryne 1 ; Nottebrok, Logan 1 ; Gideon, Ronnie 1
3B: Kopetsky, Blake 1
HR: Hinsley, G.R. 1
RBI: Moss, J.B. 1 ; Moroney, Jonathan 1 ; Birk, Ryne 2 ; Nau, Mitchell 1 ; Barash, Michael 1 ; Nottebrok, Logan 1 ; Allemand, Blake 3 ; Choruby, Nick 2 ; Hinsley, G.R. 2
SH: Moss, J.B. 1
SF: Birk, Ryne 1 ; Allemand, Blake 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Moss, J.B. 1 ; Birk, Ryne 1 ; Nau, Mitchell 1 ; Nottebrok, Logan 1 ; Kopetsky, Blake 1 ; Banks, Nick 1 ; Melton, Hunter 1 ; Allemand, Blake 2 ; Taylor, Logan 1 ; Choruby, Nick 2 ; Hinsley, G.R. 3
SB: Banks, Nick 1
HBP: Banks, Nick 1 ; Allemand, Blake 1 ; Taylor, Logan 2
