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The Battalion | 2.13.19
Photos by Meredith Seaver and Cassie Stricker — THE BATTALION
Left: Junior pitcher Payton McBride pitched 14.2 innings during the Aggie Classic. Right: Senior Riley Sartain hit the first home run of the season on Feb. 8 against California Baptist.
AGGIES PREPARE FOR PRAIRIE VIEW PANTHERS Texas A&M softball looks to build on strong start in Wednesday matchup By Abigail Ochoa @AbigailOchoa88 After closing out the Aggie Classic with a 4-1 record, the No. 20 Texas A&M softball team will take the field again on Wednesday at Davis Diamond against Prairie View A&M.
BASKETBALL CONTINUED Sophomore forward Nicolas Claxton was Georgia’s leading scorer with 18 points and 10 rebounds. Following Claxton was junior guard Jordan Harris with 10 points and sophomore guard Teshaun Hightower with nine. A nine-point scoring run by Chandler halfway through the first half put A&M up 20-14 and gave them a permanent lead. By halftime, A&M had a healthy 34-21 lead over the Bulldogs. The Aggies held Georgia to a shooting percentage of just 28.6 percent in the first half, allowing only 8 of 28. The Aggies kept Georgia at bay throughout the second half, allowing them to shoot only 43.5 percent. Second half performance is something that has hurt the Aggies in games past, and Chandler said that was key to their win over Georgia.
The Aggies had quite the weekend, with all five games ending in five innings, as opposed to the seven innings usually played in regulation. A&M also compiled the most runs in the first five games since the 1993 season, ending the classic with 53 runs and giving up just 14. A&M’s sole loss of the weekend came from the University of North Texas on Saturday. In the 10-2 defeat, junior pitcher Payton McBride said the team had to make changes in their game plan because UNT was dominating in its defensive performance.
“We stayed connected,” Chandler said. “Finishing the game, that’s been our main thing that’s been affecting our team — just finishing games out and just fighting and getting the win.” A&M saw the return, albeit brief, of freshman forward John Walker III, though junior forward Josh Nebo was still out with an MCL sprain. Walker played only seven minutes, going 1-of-1 to give A&M two points. The Aggies will next take the court on Feb. 16 at 12 p.m. in South Carolina. The Gamecocks are 12-11 overall and 7-3 against SEC opponents. Kennedy said he hopes the two back-to-back wins will help the team moving forward. “Hopefully we got a lot of confidence,” Kennedy said. “I think we’re playing with more confidence; we’re playing better together. Now we’ve got to go to South Carolina and play against a team that is the most physical team we’ve played.”
BASEBALL CONTINUED “It kind of makes your heart melt as a mom,” Alissa said. “Knowing that there is a team that has such good values and that I hold in very high regard to take in your kid and just say, ‘hey, he’s going to be part of us; he’s going to be one of us’ and just take on all of his unique challenges.”
“I think we were just being really aggressive and trying to swing at balls that we shouldn’t have been swinging at,” McBride said. “We weren’t as relaxed and confident in trying to get base hits like we had done the first three games.” Prairie View last met with A&M in the first game of the NCAA College Station Regional during the 2018 season. The Aggies controlled the field and took away a 9-0 victory against PVAMU. The game was over in five innings and
racked up season records for the now-former A&M players. Then-senior infielder Tori Vidales recorded her 12th home run and scored two of the nine runs for the Aggies, while former A&M pitcher Samantha Show earned her sixth shutout of the season after allowing only two strikes and two runners on base. A&M will face Prairie View on Wednesday at Davis Diamond. First pitch is set for 4 p.m., and the game will be televised on the SEC Network.
Meredith Seaver — THE BATTALION
Senior forward Christian Mekowulu had 15 points and 15 rebounds against Georgia Tuesday night. This was his second-straight double-double performance of the season.
A&M head coach Rob Childress said the Aggies are excited to have Gus join them this season because of the effect he will have on the program. “We’re honored to be a part of Team IMPACT and partner with them and have a young man like Gus Kimbrough in our program,” Childress said. “He’s got the opportunity to be impactful to our guys … and our 35 guys have an opportunity to make an impact
in a young man’s life.” Senior infielder Chandler Morris said he could already see the impact Gus will have on the team. “He’s going to be our thermometer; he’s going to be the bar we’re trying to get to every day in terms of energy, in terms of motivation,” Morris said. “It’s going to be a lot of fun to have him around day in and day out, games and practices alike.”
Childress said having Gus around raises the bar for the players and reminds them that their influence on the community is about more than baseball. “Our goal is to win each and every game, but if we got an opportunity to impact a young person’s life, then we’ve won,” Childress said. The Aggies will kick off the 2019 season on Friday with the first game of a three-game series against Fordham at Blue Bell Park.
AGGIELAND 2018
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Texas A&M University Vol. 116
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