Aggies Thrash Florida International, 17-3

The Aggies had five different players go yard as they smashed Florida International's pitching staff in their 17-3 win in the opening game of the Coral Gables Regional. The Aggies scored runs in every inning except the second as they crushed FIU's pitching, and kept the pressure on the Panther offense to try to keep pace. Aggie pitcher Barret Loux was very, very solid, going 8 full innings, giving up 3 earned runs on 6 hits while striking out 10. Loux kept the FIU hitters at bay, allowing the Aggies batters to slowly build a lead; after 2 runs in the first inning and 2 more runs in the third inning, the Aggies had a 4-1 lead, a lead that would turn out to be enough to win the game.

Joe Patterson got the Aggies off to a good start, parking the first pitch he saw over the wall in the first inning to give the Aggies a 2-1 lead early. Patterson ended up going 3-4 with 3 RBIs in the game, one of four Aggies to get 3 RBIs in the game (Brodie Greene, Matt Junegel, Adam Smith). Juengel, Greene, Smith, and Kevin Gonzalez were also the other four players who hit a solo home run in this game.

The Aggies pounded out 20 hits on the day, scoring 17 runs, a solid hit-to-run ratio. If they can conting hitting well like they have the last few weeks, they can play with anyone. With Shane Minks closing out the game in the ninth inning, we didn't have to use John Stilson or any other members of our staff today, so we're still on track for the rest of the Regional.

My only real complaint from this game is a minor one; the ESPNU crew gave their player of the game award to Garrett Wittels because he extended his hitting streak to 55 games. While that is a notable accomplishment, he went 1-4 on the day, didn't knock in any runs, and played on a team that lost 17-3, and looked bad doing it. Deciding who is going to get Player of the Game before the game even starts is bad form, even for an ESPN crew.

With the win, the Aggies advance to face the winner of the Dartmouth-Miami game tomorrow at 3 PM.