Walking To Round 2: Aggies Defeat Cal State Fullerton 12-7 In Stanford Regional Opener
Slow start, strong finish.
Texas A&M coach Jim Schlossnagle quickly jumped from the dugout and headed to the mound following a pair of errors to give Cal State Fullerton a 3-0 lead. Starter Will Johnston’s failed pickoff attempt kept the second inning going.
It felt too early to end Johnston’s night, but with a chance to move onto the winner’s bracket in the Stanford Regional, Schlossnagle was willing to take the lesser of two risks. And sometimes, the risk is worth the reward.
For A&M, its reward is a shot for a spot in the Stanford Regional final on Sunday following a 12-7 win Friday night. The Aggies quite literally walked their way to victory off 13 total free bases, including a dozen issued walks.
"Good win," Schlossnagle said. "I feel really good about the win. Ready to move on to tomorrow."
A&M (37-25) responded offensively in the bottom frame to plate five off two Cal State Fullerton (31-23) pitchers. An RBI single from freshman catcher Max Kaufer started the scoring, while a two-run RBI single from Jack Moss gave the Aggies their first lead of the night.
Nicknamed "Professional Hitter," Moss lived up to his persona with a three-hit night. Kaufer, an 18-year early enrollee, continued his hot streak at the backstop, going 3-for-5 with three RBIs. In his last two games, Kaufer has six RBIs and has improved his framing with pitchers drastically.
"He’s putting good swings on balls and now he’s having some balls fall in," Schlossangle said of Kaufer. "The game knows. The game rewards good people who work hard.”
Brett Minnich kept the scoring going in the third with a two-run RBI single. Kaufer notched his second hit with an RBI single to extend A&M's lead to five. An inning later, Ryan Targac made the night's highlight swing with a two-run blast deep into the trees of left field.
Targac, who smacked a clutch home run in the SEC Tournament against Arkansas, finished 2-for-3 with three runs scored. Hunter Haas, whose three-run blast catapulted A&M over LSU in the SEC quarterfinals, picked up his 16th multi-hit game and drew three walks.
"The last couple of weeks, I've just had an unreal flow of trust come through me," Targac said. "That has helped from (Schlossnagle) to Mike Earley just telling me to stick to my approach and trust my routine."
Kaufer is one of several first-year Aggies that has caught the eye of Schlossnagle. Another is left-hander Shane Sdao. Entering Friday down by three, the native from Montgomery ceased the scoring by working his way out of the second. He'd deliver four scoreless innings, allowing a hit and walk while striking out four.
Cal State Fullerton fought back in the fifth with a chance to do damage after Sdao issued two walks. With the bases loaded, the freshman worked out of the jam thanks to his 95 MPH heater inducing a popout before forcing a strikeout to end the frame.
“I think his fastball looked really good," Kaufer said postgame. "He was throwing everything for strikes. His changeup looked really good and when you’re a left-handed pitcher able to locate three pitches consistently, that’s going to win you a lot of games.”
The Titans chipped away at the lead in the seventh with an RBI single from Caden Connor to make it 11-4. An inning later, Cal State tacked on three more runs off a throwing error from pitcher Ty Sexton and an RBI single from Zach Lew. Kaufer kept the lead at five with an RBI single in the bottom frame to score Stanley Tucker from second.
"The more at-bats I'm getting, the more comfortable I feel," Kaufer said. "I'm just hoping to keep contributing to the team."
The Aggies return to Sunken Diamond for an 8 p.m. CT first pitch against the host team. The Cardinal, who also made it to the College World Series last season, thwarted fourth-seeded San Jose State 13-2 with four home runs and timely hitting.
Freshman left-hander Justin Lampkin will get the call after a week of rest following his brilliant one-hit outing against South Carolina. Despite being a freshman, Lampkin exudes confidence on the mound.
The Cardinal are two games away from heading to the super regionals. Eliminating their confidence is priority No. 1 for the Aggies.
"You better make pitches, or they'll bloody you pretty quick," Schlossnagle said of Stanford. "We'll show up and try to hang with them."
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