| Senior Michael Rockett tied the program's all-time doubles record with his leadoff two-bagger in the ninth inning. |
COLLEGE STATION ? No. 11 Texas A&M exploded for seven runs on seven hits and a critical UTSA error in the second inning and the Aggies cruised to a 16-6 victory on Tuesday night in front of 3.001 fans at Olsen Field.
A&M won its sixth game in a row to improve to 19-9, while the Roadrunners dropped their third straight to fall to 15-11.
UTSA took an early 1-0 lead in the opening frame.
Sophomore right fielder Tyler Carpenter led off the contest with a single to center, stole second and third and came home on senior All-America center fielder Michael Rockett's base hit up the middle.
The Aggies tied the game in their half of the inning on Kyle Colligan's leadoff homer and took the lead for good one stanza later.
Dylan Petrich started the frame with a single through the right side of the infield and Brodie Greene lined a hit to right center two batters later. Adam Smith followed with an RBI base knock to left center to put Texas A&M up by one and that put runners on the corners with one down. Randall Thorpe then laid down a suicide squeeze bunt and the ball got underneath UTSA starting pitcher Marc Gomez' glove for an error and that brought home Greene with the inning's second run. Three consecutive hits followed to push the advantage to a half dozen. Petrich's second single of the panel closed out the scoring and the rout was on.
After the teams exchanged runs in the third, A&M plated three more in the fifth and another an inning later to stretch the lead to 13-2.
UTSA put up two runs in both seventh and eighth, but the Aggies crossed the dish three times in those two panels to finish off the 10-run victory.
Texas A&M starter Clayton Elhert (2-0) pitched six strong innings to collect the win. The right-hander allowed a pair of runs on seven hits and tied his career high with nine strikeouts.
Gomez (1-1) was charged with his first loss of the year after surrendering eight runs (six earned) on eight hits in 1.2 innings. Meanwhile, senior righty J.T. Mackey saw his first action since May 25, 2007, when he pitched in the eighth.
Rockett finished the night 3-for-5 with a pair of RBIs to extend his hitting streak to 11 games and he also moved into a first-place tie on the school's career doubles list with his leadoff two-bagger in the ninth. The Sugar Land native, who already has set the program's all-time marks for at-bats and hits this spring, now has 54, which matches Jeff Juarez' record set from 1996-99. Carpenter added his seventh three-hit game of the year and scored three times.
Greene was 4-for-5 with three runs scored, while Colligan went 2-or-3 with a pair of walks in addition to crossing the plate four times and bringing home three runners.
UTSA is back in action on Wednesday night when it hosts Houston (9-17) at Roadrunner Field. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. and senior southpaw Andy Benedict (1-0, 2.19 ERA) will make his first start of the year. The Roadrunners defeated the Cougars 14-8 in the Bayou City on March 4 and trail the all-time series, 14-7, but they have won three of the last five meetings between the two programs.