A&M walks off with win over Tennessee

COLLEGE STATION — George Janca gapped a one-out, bases-loaded single to left-center in the ninth inning to give No. 23 Texas A&M a 2-1 walkoff victory over Tennessee on Friday in the opener of the teams’ Southeastern Conference series on Olsen Field at Blue Bell Park.

Janca’s single, which came on the first pitch he saw from Volunteers starter Hunter Martin, drove in Braden Shewmake, who led off the inning with a single.

Aggies starter Brigham Hill received a nodecision after allowing just five hits over seven shutout frames. Tennessee scored a run off Texas A&M reliever Mitchell Kilkenny in the eighth to tie the game at 1, but Kilkenny kept the Volunteers off the board in the ninth to set the stage for Janca’s heroics.

Shewmake supplied the first run for the Aggies (27-12, 9-7) with a solo home run in the seventh.

HOUSTON BAPTIST 5 INCARNATE WORD 2

Brandon Brintz had two hits and drove in a pair of runs, JT Newton tossed four innings of scoreless relief, and the Huskies defeated the Cardinals in San Antonio.

Jake Pulcheon went 2-for-5 with an RBI, and Tyler Depreta-Johnson was 1-for-2 with two walks and an RBI for Houston Baptist (18-15, 10-6 Southland Conference).

Garrett Terrell was 4-for-4 for Incarnate Word (16-22, 5-11).

RICE 8 WESTERN KENTUCKY 4

Tristan Gray hit a pair of home runs, including one of an inside-the-park variety, as the Owls defeated the Hilltoppers in the teams’ series opener in Bowling Green, Ky.

Gray entered the weekend’s critical league series, where both teams are desperate for wins in order to make the C-USA postseason tournament, on an 8-for-13 (.615) hitting pace that included a home run and four doubles for a 1.154 slugging percentage.

Rice improved to 14-25 and 5-11 in Conference USA.

TEXAS 7, NEW ORLEANS 1

Backed by a strong start from lefthander Nick Kennedy, the Longhorns cruised to a victory over the Privateers in Austin.

The Longhorns (26-15) came one out from securing their second straight shutout.

Travis Jones and Kacy Clemens homered, and Kennedy threw six shutout innnings.

ARKANSAS-PINE BLUFF 4 TEXAS SOUTHERN 3

Aderly Perez drove in the winning-run on a sacrifice fly in the 10th inning, and the Golden Lions defeated the Tigers in Pine Bluff, Ark.

Kamren Dukes was 3-for-4 with a home run and three RBIs for TSU (13-24, 11-7 Southwestern Athletic Conference).

IN OTHER GAMES

No. 7 TCU beat Baylor 9-4 in Fort Worth to improve to 29-7 and 10-3 in the Big 12. Baylor fell to 22-15 and 5-8 in conference play. … Oklahoma State rallied for a 12-10 victory over No. 4 Texas Tech (32-9, 8-5 Big 12) in Lubbock. … Jalyn Baker hit a three-run homer in the ninth to lift host Prairie View A&M (14-27, 7-9 Southwestern Athletic Conference) to a 15-13 win over Southern.