Recap: Aggies End Homestand Perfect With Victory Over UIW
COLLEGE STATION — The wind blew late into the night at Olsen Field on Wednesday. While weather conditions could best be described as "chilly", one could say Incarnate Word bats had the same effect against Texas A&M's southpaw.
Redshirt freshman Jonathan Childress blanked the Cardinals during his five innings of work as the No. 18 Aggies cruised to a 4-0 win. The team would close out their homestand 10-0, a career-best since 2015 (A&M would start 24-0 that season). Childress would allow two hits while striking out seven before Chris Weber closed the show with four scoreless innings of work.
"We didn't give up any runs and that's what I like most," A&M manager Rob Childress said. "I thought both those sophomores were outstanding tonight, threw lots of strikes. Didn't create a whole lot of problems for themselves and we played amazing defense behind them."
Improved pitching could have A&M surpassing the intended goals set earlier this year. The Aggies would deliver their second shutout of the week, one day after defeating Houston Baptist with an identical 4-0 score. Tuesday's and Wednesday's would be the first scoreless set since 2016, which included a no-hitter from Kyle Simonds' against Vanderbilt.
Childress (2-0), who missed a majority of last season due to a shoulder injury, was expected to ease back onto the mound early. Perhaps Wednesday will be a sign of his progression on the mound. Throwing 70 pitches, Childress would clip the Cardinals offensive production behind his curveball and precise location of the fastball.
"I felt great all the way through my whole start, I still feel good now," Jonathan Childress said. "I haven't thrown 70 pitches in I don't even know how long. I didn't even throw 70 last year. It was great to extend out a little bit."
Offensive production would slow down after a hot start to the season. The team wouldn't score their first run until the fourth inning when Zane Schmidt would score Zach DeLoach on an RBI triple. Bryce Blaum would plate Schmidt on an RBI groundout while Cam Blake brought home Mason Corbett on an RBI single.
Blaum's hot-hitting would continue as the cold weather reached into the '40s during the seventh-inning stretch. A double to begin the inning would be rewarded as the junior infielder would score off a one-out blooper from third baseman Logan Sartori.
Blaum would finish the evening going 2-of-3 with two doubles and an RBI while Sartori would finish 2-of-3 with a double and a walk.
"He can start the game with a bang and he's willing to take his walks," Rob Childress said. "He's very aggressive on the base path, he's fearless. When the bottom of the order is doing what they've been doing all year long, he's coming up with traffic on the bases and getting big hits and driving people in."
Insurance would allow Weber to close out the game in style. Throwing 58 pitches, the former starter would allow two hits and two walks before striking out four. A called third strike in the ninth would have Weber walking away with pride — knowing he protected the pen for the weekend.
"It was good to just be able to throw strikes, knowing that no matter what the guys are going to make great plays behind me," Weber said. "Once I got ahead in the count, it was great to have the slider to put them away."
The perfect streak could come to an end this weekend when the Aggies head north for the Frisco Classic. A&M begins the weekend against Illinois before facing No. 10 UCLA on Saturday. They will close out the series against Oklahoma State Sunday. First pitch on Friday night is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.