Aggies show they still have plenty of surprises in store
COLLEGE STATION — Texas A&M honored longtime field manager Leo Goertz, who died in December, prior to the third-ranked Aggies’ Friday night game against Hofstra at Blue Bell Park.
Then A&M went about starting its first season without the legendary “Leeee-oooo!” — a familiar refrain from the crowd over heaps of seasons past — for the first time since 1977. Goertz, who had painstakingly manicured the stadium’s field for decades, would have been quite pleased with the opening-night results.
The Aggies defeated the Pride 5-2 on a clear, moonlit night along the railroad tracks, thanks primarily to two RBIs on two sacrifice flies from second baseman Ryne Birk, and solid outings from pitchers Kyle Simonds, Brigham Hill and Ryan Hendrix.
“We played like an older bunch should play,” A&M 11th-year coach Rob Childress said.
Memorable night
Boomer White, a Memorial High grad and a junior transfer from TCU, turned in a memorable first plate appearance for A&M before 6,806 fans. The third baseman White, a former firstteam All-Big 12 performer, launched a home run over the left-field fence to lift A&M to a 1-0 lead in the first inning, finishing 2-for-4.
“I ran into one on my first swing,” White said, grinning and shrugging. “It couldn’t have been scripted any better.”
Except perhaps at the tail end of his first A&M home-run trot — and even that was good for chuckles for years to come. White’s nose somehow collided with Birk on a chest bump after he crossed home plate, and White spent a chunk of the rest of the game wiping blood on his jersey.
A&M’s Simonds, a senior who took over the role of ace following the preseason dismissal of Tyler Stubblefield for a violation of team rules, allowed seven hits and two runs over five innings, in his sixth overall start.
The righthander Simonds recorded three strikeouts and didn’t allow a walk against 21 batters. Hill followed in relief with 21⁄ scoreless innings, and Hendrix closed it out with 12⁄ scoreless innings.
The Aggies, one inning from a College World Series berth last season, began the process of distancing the memory of a 16-inning loss in the deciding third game of an NCAA tournament super regional at TCU in June.
The Horned Frogs went on to two wins over LSU in the CWS and two losses to Vanderbilt to end their season, while the 50-14 Aggies returned home to impatiently wait for this season, one in which they’re picked by many prognosticators to return to the CWS for the first time since 2011.
“This team can be more dangerous than last year’s team,” said center fielder J.B. Moss, who tallied two triples against Hofstra pitching.
The series continues at 2 p.m. Saturday — the A&M basketball team plays host to Kentucky at 5:30 p.m. so many fans will make the trek from one venue to another — and the season’s first baseball series concludes with a noon Sunday contest.
Looking ahead to UT
The Aggies continue their season-opening home swing with a Tuesday game against Stephen F. Austin State and a Wednesday contest against Prairie View A&M, before playing a three-game series at Pepperdine starting Friday.
A highlight of the season for many fans will be A&M playing host to former Southwest and Big 12 conference foe Texas on March 15. The Aggies open their fourth season of SEC play three days later at Auburn.
A&M and Texas haven’t played in the regular season since 2012, just prior to A&M’s exit of the Big 12 for the SEC, although the Longhorns won an NCAA tournament regional against the Aggies at Rice in 2014.