Aggies Score Six Runs Late, Picks Up 10th Win Of Season Over USC
Josh Stewart looked like a 10 Saturday afternoon at Globe Life Field coming out of the bullpen.
Who knew the number 10 would be so poignant by the final out?
The Texas A&M Aggies secured the 9-3 victory over USC Saturday in Arlington, marking the 10th victory of the season. Stewart, who entered the game with a 3-1 lead in the sixth, tossed three innings of hitless, scoreless work, keeping the Trojans at bay long enough to add some insurance.
Texas A&M Athletics
"Stewart was great. It's important for us to get some right-handed pitchers out of the bullpen to get some outs against the lefties," said A&M coach Jim Schlossnagle. "Coach Max (Weiner) has done such a great job with him, building his confidence and showing him that he has some special weapons that he can utilize."
Stewart joined the No. 7 Aggies (10-0) after a one-year stay at Texas in 2023. Consider last year a regrouping moment, where fundamentals took control for the early stages.
Eventually, Stewart joined the bullpen rotation as a last-second arm. This season, he looks to be battling with Evan Aschenbeck for the title of No. 1 reliever, a testament to Weiner's work on the mound and in film study during the offseason.
“[Weiner has] done such a great job with him, building his confidence and showing him that he has some special weapons that he can utilize and that gives him the confidence to go out there and pitch, and he’s performed well,” Schlossnagle said.
Trailing 1-0, the Aggies' offense found a spark in the fifth inning. Braden Montgomery, Ted Burton, and Jackson Appel each drove in runs on three consecutive two-out RBI singles to give A&M a two-run advantage.
Stewart worked his way around to leadoff double in the sixth to fan two. Austin Over’s RBI single brought the Trojans within a run, but Stewart blew past Kevin Takeuchi with his 94 MPH sweeper fastball to end the frame.
"That’s been the biggest thing for that, it really just goes back to that freedom of letting me throw what I want and then just executing the pitches as they come," Stewart said.
Tanner Jones upped his pitch count after tossing two scoreless innings in Sunday's sweep over Wanger, but he also upped his ERA. The Jacksonville State transfer gave up an early double to Trojan second baseman KaiKea Harrison in the first inning before settling in.
On 50 pitches, Jones allowed two to reach base and struck out three before being pulled before the start of the fourth.
"Jones obviously didn't have his best stuff, but he competed, and we got him to his 50 pitches," Schlossnagle said.
Freshman Weston Moss picked up his second win of the young season after tossing two frames of near-impeccable pitching. His lone blip? A double to begin the sixth that would come around to score on Over's single.
"Moss, to me, was the story of the game," said Schlossnagle. "A freshman in this environment, to come in and throw strikes, make pitches."
Ryan Targac extended the lead back to two on a sac fly in the second. An RBI triple by Jace LaViolette in the eighth started a three-run inning. Just for good measure, freshman Gavin Grahovac smacked a solo home shot in the top of the ninth that cleared several rows of seats in left field.
Schlossnagle mentioned how he was pleased with the response from being down early and struggling to find an identity at the plate through four frames.
"When you're used to scoring and you have opportunities and nobody gets the big hit, you can feel some tension in the dugout," Schlossnagle said. "That's the challenge. This game is really hard."
A&M returns to Globe Life for the final game of the Kubota College Baseball Series with a rematch against Arizona State. The Aggies won 4-0 in the first game of the series Friday night.
First pitch is scheduled for 11 a.m. behind left-hander Justin Lampkin (1-0, 0.00 ERA).