Recap: Aggies Clinch Series Victory Over Aggies In Late Inning Magic
COLLEGE STATION — The Aggies roster was always going to win the series this weekend at Blue Bell Park. The question was still which Aggie would be the ones walking away content; the hometown heroes or New Mexico.
With a 5-1 lead in the bottom of the sixth, New Mexico State manager Mike Kirby went to his bullpen in favor of his southpaw, Frank Dickson Jr.
A&M's Rob Childress countered with the right-handed junior college transfer Austin Bost to pinch-hit. And with two on and one out Bost delivered clutch. On a 2-1 pinch, Bost launched on deep out of Olsen Field, banging it off the scoreboard in left-center field.
Bost believe in eating your Wheaties kids.
“It felt so good,” Bost said. “Running around the bases, looking at my teammates; I couldn’t have asked for a better moment.”
The swing gave A&M the lead in an eventual 7-5 victory for the home Aggies. A bullpen duo of Chandler Jozwiak and Bryce Miller sealed the ballgame by stopping the 5-0 bleeding, sealing the victory for the boys of College Station.
“For us to be down 5-0 at the end of the fifth and for us to answer back, I’m as proud of our team as I’ve been all year long,” Childress said.
A ground-ball up the middle from Ray Alejo would plate two, giving A&M a 6-5 lead. The team would tack on another run later that inning off a wild pitch that would score Hunter Coleman. Alejo would finish 1-of-3 with the two RBIs.
“It’s not always about winning and scoring in the first few innings, but making sure we win the game in the end,” Alejo said.
Christian Roa will be hopeful his recent trend of start won't be of sign of issues in conference. A week after taking on No.8 UCLA, the junior right-hander would allow five runs on four hits and four walks in 4.1 innings of work. He also struck out six before Childress turned to the pen.
But in baseball, sometimes it's the relievers that can change the game around. Jozwiak and Miller would be that reason come Saturday afternoon. The former starter would go 3.1 innings and allow zero runs off three hits to keep A&M in contention during the slide.
“He’s as good as a teammate as we have in this program," Childress said of the left-hander's outing. "He cares about the success of the team. He doesn’t care what his role is as long as he’s a part of it. Tonight, that’s what he’s capable of. He was aggressive.
"If he wasn’t good tonight, we wouldn’t have won the game.”
Miller, who struggled against Oklahoma State, found his redemption late with a save opportunity. With NMSU's Nick Gonzales at the plate representing the tying run, Miller induced an inning-ending ground ball and would throw a 1-2-3 ninth to nail down his third save of the year.
Behind Bost's homer and Jowziak's combined moments, the home Aggies clinched the series victory, placing them on a 13-game win streak at home. But the mission will only be complete when Sunday's game comes around for the series finale. A&M will hand the ball off to former reliever Chris Weber will make his first start at 1:02 p.m. against NMSU's.
“All around, there’s so many heroes tonight,” Childress said. “Very, very proud of our team.”