After a blowout to start the Frisco Classic, fans at the nightcap were treated to a pitcher's duel. It was a scoreless game until the bottom of the 8th, with little action scattered throughout the game.
The first hit for either team was in the top of the 4th inning. Back-to-back singles by Cam Blake and Logan Sartori had the Aggies in business, but Illinois worked a 6-4-3 double play to get out of the inning.
Illinois tried to work some two-out magic in the 4th with a single and a double by Alex Steinbach and Cam McDonald, respectively. Aggie lefty Asa Lacy got out of it with a strikeout.
All game Illini batters were working the count and Aggie pitchers were still striking them out. Aggie batters were aggressively going after pitches early in the counts, but they were hit right where the outfielders were.
The first run of the game went to Illinois in the bottom of the 8th after a single and a stolen base put Taylor Jackson in position for Brandon Comia to bring him home with a single. That's all the Illini needed as the Aggies went quickly and quietly in the top of the 9th.
After the game, Texas A&M coach Rob Childress said "mistakes get magnified in that Friday night fight and we made one mistake up out over the plate with two strikes and they didn't miss."
Asked if he felt any adrenaline during the game with all the Aggie fans in attendance, starting pitcher Ty Weber responded "I try to stay as even-keeled as I can... I know if I was a freshman in this situation, I'd have a lot more nerves than I did early on."
Illinois takes on Oklahoma State at 2pm Saturday, then Texas A&M comes back to face UCLA at 6pm! Check out a full preview of the Frisco Classic here!
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