No. 5 Aggies Open 2023 with 8-2 win Over Seattle U

Friday, February 17

Bryan-College Station

6:00 PM

Texas A&M

1-0

Seattle U

0-1

Seattle U

Texas A&M

Feb 17, 2023 | Baseball

Box Score Highlights Photo Gallery

BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION, Texas – The No. 5 Texas A&M baseball team opened the 2023 campaign with an 8-2 win over Seattle U Friday night on Olsen Field at Blue Bell Park.

The Aggie (1-0) offense got off to a slow start as Seattle U (0-1) staring pitcher Peter Chronowski retired the first 11 Aggies he faced before Austin Bost broke through in the bottom of the fourth with a single to right field. Trevor Werner and Kasen Wells reached on an error and walk, respectively, before Ryan Targac drove a single to center field to drive in a pair. In the bottom of the seventh, Jace LaViolette walked, Max Kaufer and Hunter Haas loaded the bases for a Jack Moss single to extend the lead to three. Bost's sacrifice fly to left field tacked on one more.

The Redhawks wouldn't be shut out as Matt Boissoneault launched a two-run homerun to left field in the top of the eighth inning. Texas A&M responded with three runs. Wells walked and Thompson was hit-by-pitch. LaViolette's compiled his first career hit and RBI to bring Wells home. Kaufer followed with his first career RBI with a sacrifice fly. Back-to-back walks by Haas and Moss loaded the bases allowing LaViolette to round the bases and score the final run of the night on a wild pitch.

Nathan Dettmer made the opening day start for the Aggies for the second consecutive year, becoming the first Aggie to start opening day in consecutive years since Khalid Ballouli in 2001 and 2002. Dettmer went 4.2 innings, allowing four hits while striking out eight. The eight strikeouts are the second most in his career.

Carson Lambert came in as relief surrendering two runs on two hits, while striking out a pair to earn his first win in Maroon & White. Matt Dillard earned a save in his Aggie debut as he hurled 1.2 innings, allowing one hit and sitting down two.

The attendance of 6,716 marks the third largest opening-night crowd since the stadium's renovation in 2012.

TOP AGGIE PERFORMERS
Nathan Dettmer – 4.2 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 8 K
Jack Moss – 2-for-4, 2 RBI, 1 1B, 1 2B, 1 BB
Jace LaViolette – 1-for-3, 2 R, 1 RBI, 1 BB

GAME SUMMARY
B4 | TAMU 2, SU 0
With two outs, Bost broke through with a single to right field. Werner would reach on an error by the pitcher and Wells walked to load the bases. With the bases loaded, Targac laced a two-run single into center field.

B5 | TAMU 3, SU 0
Haas reached on an error to lead off the bottom of the inning. Moss drove him in with a double down the right field line.

B7 | TAMU 5, SU 0
With one out, LaViolette, Kaufer and Haas walked to load the bases. Moss singled to right center field to drive in LaViolette. Bost's sac fly to left field brought in Kaufer.

T8 | TAMU 5, SU 2
Jackson Reed singled to lead off the top of the eighth inning. Matt Boissoneault's two-run homerun brought the Redhawks within three.

B8 | TAMU 8, SU 2
Wells led off the bottom of the eighth with a walk and was pushed to second as Jordan Thompson was hit by the pitch. LaViolette singled up the middle to score Wells. Kaufer followed with a sacrifice fly to score Thompson. Haas and Moss would reach to load the bases. LaViolette scored on a wild pitch.

UP NEXT
The Aggies return to Olsen Field at Blue Bell Park on Saturday for game two of the series with Seattle U at 2 p.m.

TEXAS A&M QUOTES
Head Coach Jim Schlossnagle
On tonight's performance…
"I don't care how long you've played, have a veteran team or whatever: guys still have jitters. It's okay to have jitters. It's okay to have butterflies, you just have to get them to fly in the right direction… I thought [Nathan] Dettmer did an awesome job, I thought [Max] Kaufer did a great job catching him. We played really good defense all over the outfield. [Ryan] Targac's hit certainly took a little bit of the pressure off. I was proud of the way we played. We just have to come back tomorrow and start all over."

Junior first baseman Jack Moss
On starting off the season with a win…
"It's awesome. You know, last time we played, in Omaha, it felt like yesterday. To get us started with a W is huge in front of all of these unbelievable fans. The 12th Man came out and represented us tonight, so it was really cool to play in front of them."

Junior RHP Nathan Dettmer
On what was working for him tonight…
"I don't want to sound cocky, but really everything. I just felt great going out there. I'm so glad to be back in front of all of these fans. I felt like I could do anything."

FOLLOW THE AGGIES
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