COLLEGE STATION — As the baseball-diamond sized tarp was unrolled by nearly 20 staffers, the gathered students in section 203 began to cheer for the first time of the night.
Those who regularly attend games at Olsen Field know the rowdy fans all too well. Chants aimed at pitching coaches, umpires and even opposing players tend to be over-the-top, but never fail to bring energy to the stadium — even during an hours-long rain delay.
A first pitch that was initially supposed to go at 7 p.m. central didn't find its way into the batter's box until around 8:30 as both sides watched intently. Roads were flooded, trash cans were flipped over outside of houses and phone notifications were of no shortage, but despite the persistent rain that found shelter in College Station, both sides — determined to not force a Friday double-header — played all 11 innings well into Thursday night.
And at the end of all of it, it was Texas A&M who came away victorious, 1-0. Section 203 left Blue Bell Park ecstatic and ready for another matchup Friday, which it knew would hold even higher stakes.
From the jump, both schools let on the fact that the contest they were about to engage in was going to be won by the superior pitchers. Both starting pitchers — Hagen Smith for Arkansas and Ryan Prager for Texas A&M — struck out their first three batters faced to end the first inning rather quickly.
From there, it was Arkansas that began to find the sweet spot, notching a few hits throughout the second and third innings to threaten to scratch the scoresheet first, but both times Texas A&M was able to escape the inning scot-free. In the third, the Aggies were the ones threatening to score after a few errors let junior Travis Chesnut round the bases, but ultimately, the Razorbacks had their way.
Through three at-bats for both teams, Prager had struck out seven batters and Smith six, leading to a knotted no-score game through the first third with still plenty of baseball to play.
The fourth and fifth innings saw little action, as both schools left at most one batter on base, yet notched no hits. Innings six and seven saw a combined two hits from both as well, with the most action being a ground double-play by Arkansas' Wehiwa Aloy to end the sixth inning earlier than expected.
By time the ninth inning had arrived, the Aggies didn't have much momentum to go on. Their bats had been quiet all night — certainly a byproduct of Smith's 14 strikeouts on the night — and it would remain so as the game left regulation and headed to extra innings.
Olsen Field was as electric as it had been all night as the top of the tenth inning came and went. Arkansas had multiple base hits to get its runners in scoring position, even landing a runner on third base with two outs, but a strikeout from relief pitcher Evan Aschenbeck ensured the score remained tied at zero, and on to the bottom of the tenth the game went.
Texas A&M recorded two quick outs but found some life behind a double to deep left-center field from Ali Camarillo that forced Arkansas into a pitching change, but once again, the Aggies' momentum fizzled out as a ground out to the pitcher sent the game to inning No. 11.
That's when things got scary.
After landing another double to put infielder Ben McLaughlin in scoring position, the Razorbacks clung to a one-out opportunity to score the first points of the night. A deep line drive to left field would have done it, but — as the crowd's collective gasp indicated — the ball just fell foul.
Then, a home-run shot from Hudson White nearly put Arkansas up by two runs, but Caden Sorrell made a grab so close that he had to hold up his glove to prove it. Texas A&M survived and moved to the bottom of the 11th inning as midnight drew closer.
After securing a walk to get Gavin Grahovac on base following a swinging strikeout, the Aggies once again had life. Still, strikes threatened to put them one out away from enduring the Razorbacks' heating-up offense, but they remained steadfast.
As Grahovac ran ahead toward second base, Jace LaViolette swung and connected, sending the ball through the first-and-second base gap to put Grahovac on third. Braden Montgomery followed them, accounting for the Aggies' second out as he struck out swinging. LaViolette advanced to second on a steal, putting both him and Grahovac in scoring position with one out remaining.
Jackson Appel followed but was intentionally walked by Arkansas to load the bases and send up Ted Burton for what seemed to be the final showdown. If it worked, the Razorbacks would get their chance at offense again, exhaust all of the Aggies' momentum and take Game 1. On the other hand, however, Burton just needed to either get walked or single.
And he got walked.
The entirety of Olsen Field erupted as Burton trotted to first base with his hands in the air, bringing in Grahovac and securing a victory. The Aggies had won — and just before midnight. But their test against the Razorbacks wasn't over yet.
With the win, the Texas A&M Aggies improved to 43-10 on the season and 1-0 in the end-of-week series against Arkansas. Next up for both squads is another meeting on Olsen Field Friday evening.
First pitch — barring inclement weather — is scheduled for 7 p.m. CST.
