Playing amidst a steady mist all day, the Texas A&M Aggies completed a season opening three-game sweep over the Hofstra Pride with a 5-0 shutout in large part to freshman Tyler Ivey’s outstanding performance.
“For him to do what he did–as a true freshmen and in front of 4,000 fans–and to control his emotions, and to throw strikes was nice to see,” said pre-season right fielder J.B. Moss, who played a pivotal role in the victory with an RBI double.
Ivey fired six shutout innings, struck out six and allowed only two hits. He was totally in control of the game and aside from the fifth inning when he allowed a single to Teddy Cilis and walked Nick Bottari, he didn’t allow the Pride to muster much offense.
The Aggies offense came from an RBI single by Ronnie Gideon in the second inning, an RBI double by J.B. Moss in the bottom of the fourth and a two-run shot to straight away center in the seventh inning by Gideon.
The Aggies turned to their bullpen. Ty Schlottman worked around a lead off single by Steven Foster in the seventh inning by striking out Ryan Karl and inducing Brad Witkowski into a 5-4-3 twin killing.
The eighth and ninth innings were handled by pre season All -American Mark Ecker, who entered to “Here Comes the Boom” by Nelly. He backed up the bravado by striking out Nick Bottari on a filthy 12-6 curveball. Two fly outs got him through the eighth inning. In the ninth, he worked around a single to Foster to strikeout Karl to end the game, much to the delight of the fans who had been heckling him for several innings.
The Pride fall to 0-3 on the season and will regroup before heading to Fort Myers, Fla on Thursday to begin a four-game set against another SEC powerhouse and nationally ranked program in Missouri.
Aside from the seven-run inning in yesterday’s rout, the Pride’s pitchers did a solid job of containing the mighty bats of the Aggies. The hitters certainly came out to a bit of a slow start, but it is certainly justifiable when facing power arms that spot their 93+ MPH fastballs and 83 MPH breaking balls.
