Texas A&M Offense Erupts In Second Inning En Route To Win Over Northern Kentucky

COLLEGE STATION -- Sometimes it's about quality, not quantity. That was the case for Texas A&M baseball Friday night at Blue Bell Park.

The Aggies' bats came to life in the second inning, totaling eight hits and eight runs and giving starting pitcher Nathan Dettmer a cushion en route to an 8-1 win over Northern Kentucky in front of 4,782 screaming Aggies.

"I felt like of could have done even better," Dettmer said postgame. "That's the standard now. Every time have to try and replicate that or better. Nothing less."

Hitting has been a strength for the Aggies of late. Entering Friday, A&M averaged 11.2 hits and 10.6 runs per game.

An RBI double from Ryan Targac kickstarted the night and gave A&M (10-4) a 1-0 lead. Targac would come around to score two at-bats later on an RBI single from Jordan Thompson. Freshman Jace LaViolette smacked an RBI double down the left-field line to make it 3-0, while catcher JD Gregson tacked on another run before the Norse (8-5) recorded an out.

Freshman utility man Kaeden Kent continued to deliver at the plate, going 2-for-4 with a pair of RBIs. Targac finished 1-for-3, but drove in a second run after being hit by a pitch with the bases loaded.

"He's a guy that can play short, second, third, left and right," A&M coach Jim Schlossnagle said of Kent's versatility. "We actually looked at him as a catcher at the end of fall practice. That's what we want to recruit. We want to bring in versatile athletes.

Dettmer was looking for a fresh start following his less-than-stellar outing against No. 14 Louisville at the Shriner's Children College Classic at Minute Maid Park in Houston. While the fastball has been his go-to pitch all season, Dettmer relied more so on his slider against the Norse's lineup, allowing two hits while walking three.

Dettmer tied his season-high strikeout with eight. He also forced six groundouts and a pair of flyouts through six innings of work.

“I thought Dettmer did a really nice job," Schlossnagle said. "He attacked the strike zone early. I thought it was a good response to how he pitched last week against Louisville. It’s certainly something he can take some confidence from going into SEC play starting next week.”

A&M only notched one more hit, a double by sophomore Tab Tracy in the sixth inning. The Aggies picked up three walks and struck out eight times. Usually, Schlossnalge wouldn't accept a performance such as this, but with Dettmer commanding the strike zone, it seemed like less of a concern.

"You'll take the eight runs for sure, but you want to play to a standard, not the scoreboard," Schlossnagle said. "You don't want to shut down the at-bats because you're winning because baseball's not played with a light switch. You don't get to decide when you turn it on or turn it off.

"We have our work cut out for us."

Redshirt freshman Ty Sexton filled replaced Dettmer in the seventh and carried the Aggies the remainder of the way. He allowed the Norse's only run, a sacrifice fly from Jayden Wakeham in the eighth inning.

Sexton regrouped and found his composure in the ninth, needing just nine pitches to close things out. As a duo, Dettmer and Sexton allowed just six hits and walked three.

"To help give my guys some rest and just pitch two tonight, that's huge for us and I know that's going to come back and be good for us on Sunday and tomorrow," said Dettmer.

A&M will return to Blue Bell Park for Game 2 of the series Saturday at 2 p.m.

Subscribe to the Texas A&M Aggies Daily Blitz Podcast!

Hey 12th Man! Want to see the Aggies in action? Get your Texas A&M game tickets from SI Tickets here!

Follow AllAggies.com on Facebook and Twitter!

Want the latest in breaking news and insider information on the Aggies? Click Here to Subscribe to the All Aggies Newsletter

Want even more Texas A&M Aggies News? Check out the SI.com team page here