FAYETTEVILLE, Arkansas — The Texas A&M Aggies dropped a 10-inning nail-biter to the No. 1 Arkansas Razorbacks, 2-1, Saturday evening as the Maroon & White lost both ends of the doubleheader at Baum-Walker Stadium.
Arkansas claimed the early lead with a solo home run by Matt Goodheart in the first inning, but Brett Minnich tied the game with a solo home run of his own in the seventh, sending the pitching staff duel into extra innings. The Razorbacks scored the winning run when an attempt to turn a double play resulted in an errant throw to first base, allowing Arkansas leadoff man Robert Moore to score.
Bryce Miller was strong in the start on the mound for Texas A&M. He weaved 6.0 innings, allowing just one run on two hits, while fighting an amoeba zone for five walks and 10 strikeouts. Chandler Jozwiak (1-3) was saddled with the loss despite a solid outing in relief. He allowed just one unearned run on four hits while striking out four in 3.1 innings.
The Maroon & White lost the first game of the day, 13-0.
The Aggies entered the weekend outscoring opponents 63-14 in the first two innings of games, but found themselves trailing Arkansas 5-0 with a pair of frames in the book. The Razorbacks would add a run in the fifth and three runs in both the sixth and seventh.
Dustin Saenz (5-4) battled through 5.0 innings, allowing six runs on six hits and four walks while striking out two.
The Maroon & White had an opportunity to claw back in the game, trailing 5-0 in the fifth. The Aggies had two runners in scoring position with one out, but Mikey Hoerner’s sharp grounder down the line was snared by the third baseman for the second out and with bases loaded, Bryce Blaum struck out swinging to end the rally.
The Aggies ended the day 20-17 overall and 3-11 in the SEC. Arkansas improved to 30-5 overall and 11-3 in league play.
GAME TWO
Top Aggie Performers
Bryce Miller – 6.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 5 BB, 10 K
Chandler Jozwiak – 3.1 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4 K
Brett Minnich – 1-for-4, 1 home run
Scoring Summary
B1 | With one out, Matt Goodheart hit a solo home run to right centerfield. ARK 1, A&M 0.
T7 | Brett Minnich greeted reliever Kevin Kopps by hitting an 0-2 offering over the rightfield fence for a leadoff home run. ARK 1, A&M 1.
B10 | Robert Moore slapped a leadoff single to left-center and Goodheart punched a single to leftfield. Reliever Chandler Jozwiak coerced Cayden Wallace into hitting a tailor-made double play ball to short, but the throw to first base was errant allowing Moore to score the walkoff run. ARK 2, A&M 1.
GAME ONE
Scoring Summary
B1 | Moore fell behind 0-2 before working a seven-pitch walk to start the frame. Goodheart singled to leftfield and Wallace was issued a four-pitch base on balls to fill the sacks. Brady Slavens doubled to the gap in right-center to plate two runs. ARK 2, A&M 0.
B2 | With two outs, Goodheart hit a solo home run to right-center. Wallace singled up the middle and Slavens kept a slicing ball fair down the rightfield line for a two-run home run. ARK 5, A&M 0.
B5 | Slavens started the frame with a walk, advanced to second on a wild pitch, moved to third on a groundout by Christian Franklin and scored on a sacrifice fly by Cullen Smith. ARK 6, A&M 0.
B6 | With one out, Zach Gregory reached on a bunt single and Arkansas loaded the bases with a single to centerfield by Moore and a walk drawn by Goodheart. Wallace doubled down the rightfield line for a two-run double and Goodheart scored on an error on the play by the rightfielder. ARK 9, A&M 0.
B7 | Smith drew a four-pitch walk to start the frame, moved to second on a grounder to first by Casey Opitz and scored on a single to rightfield by Jalen Battles. With two outs, Moore homered to right-center. ARK 12, A&M 0.
B8 | Wallace started the frame with an infield single and Slavens slapped a single to centerfield to put runners on the corners. Franklin knocked in Wallace with a sacrifice fly. ARK 13, A&M 0.
UP NEXT
The series wraps up Sunday with a 2:02 p.m. contest at Baum-Walker Stadium.