The Aggies won game one of the College Station Regional 4-1 to advance to Saturday Night's winner's bracket game against Ole Miss.
Quick Thoughts
- First off, tonight was another classic performance from Michael Wacha, who very well may have just pitched his final game at Olsen Field. Wacha figures to be picked near the top of the first round of the MLB Draft later this month. After the game he talked about the ovation he got when he walked off the field tonight.
"It was awesome. It's been the best three years pitching here in front of this crowd. It's real special seeing the support when I was coming off."
- The key tonight was the top of the order, that went a combined 7 of 15 at the plate. Jacob House has three hits, while Naquin and Juengel has two each. Childress talked about the success of that part of the order. However, the Aggies did leave 11 on base throughout the game as batters four through nine were only able to get two hits on the night.
"Your primetime players, they need to show up every day ready to play and all three of them did. They got some big big hits for us and got us off to a great start. The guys behind them had opportunities to get some hits and didn't do it, but there's not a doubt in my mind they will tomorrow with runners on."
- Dayton leads the nation in stolen bases, but had just one stolen base tonight. The reason was simple, they just rarely had anyone in a position to manufacture offense. The majority of their baserunners came with two outs, and they only had runners in scoring position a couple of times.
"I think the key for stopping a team that wants to run is don't let them get to first base. More than anything the key is getting the leadoff hitter and not letting them get their offense. I thought Michael did a great job of that," Childress said.
- It was good news for A&M fans to see Kyle Martin get back on the horse so to speak after his disastrous outing in Oklahoma City at the Big 12 Tournament. Martin retired all four batters he faced tonight.
"Whenever Coach Childress comes out there and he says 'hey, you're done,' I have no problem giving him the ball. Having (Estevan Uriegas) to come in there and shutting them down and then (Kyle Martin) closing it up. They've been pretty much lights out all year so it's good that again in the postseason," Wacha said.
Quotable
Dayton Coach Tony Vittorio on the atmosphere at the game...
"First of all what a great venue Texas A&M has here. It's a great crowd and I'm really proud of how our guys competed. Maybe just a little bit overmatched but they hung in there and competed. That play at the plate with CJ Exemplified what our team is all about."
On the guy to the game...
"We just couldn't get that big hit, that two out hit. We couldn't get a runner in scoring position with less than two outs. They battled but we just couldn't get that big hit."
Second baseman Jared Broughton on the atmosphere of the game...
"It was a wonderful atmosphere, very exciting. It was a lot of fun even though the outcome wasn't what we're looking for. It was great to play in this great park in front of these fans that really love baseball and love their team. It was a lot of fun to be out there and I'm just glad I had the opportunity to be out there and experience it."
Tomorrow's Matchup
For the Rebels it will be Mike Mayers on the mound. Mayers has a season record of 5-3 in 14 starts, with an ERA of 3.52. Opponents are batting .225 against Mayers for the season.
For the Aggies, Ross Stripling will take the ball with his season record of 10-3 in 15 starts. Stripling has a 2.90 ERA, and opponents are batting .221 against the Aggie right hander.
Tickets went on sale tonight for tomorrow night's game, and there won't be many of them left tomorrow. Expect a huge crowd tomorrow night at Olsen Field.
- Aubrey Bloom
- Texas A&M Insider - Gigem247