Aggies Drop 5-3 Decision to South Carolina

Friday, May 18

College Station

6:30 p.m.

Texas A&M

36-18, 13016

South Carolina

31-22, 16-13

South Carolina

Texas A&M

Photo by: Sam Craft/Texas A&M Athletics

May 18, 2018 | Baseball

Box Score Box Score - SC 5, A&M 3

COLLEGE STATION, Texas – The Texas A&M Aggies were doomed by three errors in a 5-3 loss to South Carolina Friday evening on Olsen Field at Blue Bell Park as the Gamecocks evened the series at 1-1.

Allonte Wingate paced the Aggies at the plate, reaching in all four of his plate appearances. He batted 2-for-2 with one walk, one HBP and one RBI. Michael Helman was 2-for-4 with one walk, one double and one run.

Aggie starter John Doxakis (6-5) was the tough-luck loser for the Aggies. He allowed four runs, one earned, on six hits and three walks while striking out six. Asa Lacy worked 2.0 innings of relief, yielding one unearned run on two hits and two walks while striking out two. Cason Sherrod was scoreless in his 1.1 innings, scattering one hit and one walk while striking out two.

The loss dropped the Aggies to 36-18 overall and 13-16 in the SEC. South Carolina improved to 31-22 overall and 16-13 in league action.

NEXT UP
The Aggies and Gamecocks finish the regular-season with a rubber match slated for 2:02 p.m. Saturday on Olsen Field at Blue Bell Park.

SCORING SUMMARY
B2 | The Aggies drew first blood for the second time in the series. Logan Foster started the frame with a single to leftfield and Aaron Walters drew a walk. George Janca bounced into a double play, retiring Foster on the way to third and putting Walters on second. Wingate drove the eighth pitch of his at-bat into leftfield for an RBI single. A&M 1, SC 0.

B3 | Texas A&M tacked on two more runs in the third. Helman singled to centerfield and Braden Shewmake drew a four-pitch walk to start the frame. After Will Frizzell popped up for the first out of the inning, the Aggies pulled off the double steal. Hunter Coleman knocked in both runners with a bloop single over the second baseman's head into shallow centerfield. A&M 3, SC 0.

T4 | South Carolina shaved a run off the lead in the next half-inning. With two outs, Justin Row singled to center and moved to third when the ball scooted past Zach DeLoach for a two-base error. L.T. Tolbert made the Aggies pay for the error, knocking in Row with a single to leftfield before Hunter Taylor struck out for the last out of the inning. A&M 3, SC 1.

T5 | The Gamecocks took advantage of two errors to take the lead in the fifth. After Jacob Olson hit a wall-banger to left-center for a leadoff double, a throwing error by shortstop Shewmake put runners on the corners. Doxakis hit Noah Campbell with the next pitch to load the bases. Carlos Cortes singled to rightfield to drive in Olson and Williams scored when the ball was misplayed by rightfielder Wingate. After Johan Brid drew a five-pitch walk, Row plated Campbell with a groundout to first for the go-ahead run. SC 4, A&M 3.

T8 | Taylor laced a double down the rightfield line to start the inning. After a sac bunt went awry for the first out of the inning, Taylor moved to second on a wild pitch. With two outs and runners on the corners, after a lineout by Williams and a walk issued to Campbell, Taylor scored on a wild pitch on ball four to Cortes. SC 5, A&M 3.

TEXAS A&M QUOTES
Head Coach Rob Childress
On fielding getting away from the Aggies tonight…
"Yeah, it did. We didn't play very good tonight at all from a defensive standpoint. I felt like we did a good job on the mound. But, there were some mistakes that we made on the mound as well, as far as setting up those innings for them in the fourth and fifth inning. They capitalized on them and we had some opportunities late. We just weren't able to cash in on them. We've got to play better to deserve a chance to win the series. We've got a very good defensive team and we certainly didn't play good defense tonight."

Sophomore LHP John Doxakis
On defensive struggles being the difference in the game…
"It's not just the defense. As a whole, we didn't play to our best ability and that's the result you're going to get."

On toughness of having to throw extra outs…
"Every out in the SEC is incredibly hard to get. It's the best conference in the country and the best hitters come with that. So, yeah for sure, extra outs hurt. But, it's part of the game. We play as a team. We win and lose as a team, so it's not something I'm going to hold to myself. It's as a team and that's how we go about our business."

Junior INF Michael Helman
On tonight's loss…
"It's something that we just got to flush. We're all disappointed about it. That's not the way we like to see our team play as a whole. But, it's baseball. It happens. We just have to flush it and move on to the next day."

On plays going wrong for the Aggies…
"I mean there was never one point in this game where I doubted that we could come back from the two-run deficit at the end. We had a chance there right at the end and couldn't capitalize on it. But it's baseball, man."