Aggies Dominate Bearkats 10-0

The Texas Aggie baseball team traveled to Huntsville to battle the Sam Houston State Bearkats in a critical mid-week contest among ranked teams. Daniel Mengden threw 7 shutout innings and the A&M offense banged out 18 hits in a dominating 10-0 win.

HUNTSVILLE, Texas - In front of a record crowd of 2,036 at Don Sanders Stadium on Tuesday night the ninth-ranked Texas A&M baseball team earned a 10-0 road victory over No. 21 Sam Houston State.

"We played really well in every facet of the game tonight," Texas A&M head coach Rob Childress said. "Offensively, it was an impressive performance against a team that's having a great year and against a pitcher that's done some great things for them all season. We forced their pitching staff to throw strikes and when you score in seven straight innings, you're doing something right offensively."

Texas A&M's offense was relentless during the contest as it pounded out a season-high 18 hits and was fueled by the bottom three spots in the batting order which went 9-for-11 combined at the plate. Junior shortstop Mikey Reynolds led the way out of the No. 9 spot as the Glendale, Ariz., native tied a career-high with four hits in the victory.

Reynolds highlighted a list of six Aggies with multi hits games in the contest.

On the mound, freshman right-hander Daniel Mengden (1-3) turned in his second straight outstanding outing after making his first career start last Tuesday at TCU. The Houston native threw seven shutout innings, allowing just six hits and walking none while recording four strikeouts.

"That's two great performances in a row from him," Childress commented. "We asked him to close games out of necessity early in the year and things didn't go our way. We've made some changes and it's about him finding his confidence again. He's done a great job for us the last two Tuesdays when we've needed it most."

The Aggies (32-13) used sacrifice flies to build a 2-0 lead as senior second baseman Scott Arthur drove in the evening's first run with a fly out to left in the top of the third, before junior left fielder Brandon Wood repeated the feat in the top of the fourth.

Bearkat control problems on the mound during the top of the fifth aided the Aggies' cause as Texas A&M plated four runs to open up a 6-0 advantage. The frame featured a trio of bases-loaded walks in addition to a run-scoring single from sophomore catcher Troy Stein, who went 2-for-3 with a pair of RBI in the contest.

Junior outfielder Tyler Naquin added a pair of RBI late in the contest as Texas A&M tacked on an insurance run in each of the game's final four innings off a parade of Bearkat relievers.

Freshman Corey Ray and sophomore Parker Ray each contributed a scoreless inning out of the Aggie bullpen in relief of Mengden.

Sam Houston State fell to 31-14 after the setback with previously unbeaten right-hander Michael Oros (6-1) taking the loss on the mound. The Aggies are back in action this weekend on Olsen Field at Blue Bell Park when they host in-state rival Texas Tech in a three-game Big 12 series. Friday's series opener will be televised by Cox Sports.