Tag: Chris Cortez

‘Don’t let the game play you’: Texas A&M junior pitcher Chris Cortez was lights out in UTSA win

“You play the game, you don’t let it play you,” he stated. “I think I’ve been doing that my entire career and not really enjoying the game.”

The No. 3 Texas A&M baseball team’s evasion of an upset loss on Tuesday night versus UT San Antonio is largely being credited to senior catcher Jackson Appel, deservingly so after he crushed 3 home runs.

However, just as much credit should be shown to junior right-handed pitcher Chris Cortez, who was absolutely dealing against the Roadrunners. He earned the victory after tossing the final 4.0 innings on the mound.

“I think it’s just me having fun. I’ve grown up a lot this year through the help of Max Wiener, myself and my teammates. You play the game, you don’t let the game play you,” Cortez proclaimed afterwards. “I think I’ve been doing that my entire career and not really enjoying the game. Now I just go out there and I have fun, good or bad. It gives me a lot of clarity and freedom to go out there and just be who I am.”

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‘Brutal baseball’: Texas A&M head coach Jim Schlossnagle recaps walk-off win vs. UTSA

“We played about as brutal baseball that you can possibly play that I ever remember an A&M team playing, which was out of character for us.”

The No. 3 Texas A&M baseball team barely avoided an upset loss against in-state rival, UT San Antonio, on Tuesday night at Blue Bell Park.

After the game, head coach Jim Schlossnagle provided his summary of the contest, including senior catcher Jackson Appel’s 3-home run performance.

“We got (Appel) in that spot because he puts the ball in play. We’re thinking that Grahovac, LaViolette and Montgomery are going to be on base a lot,” Schlossnagle explained. “It’s not necessarily about his power but he did a good job of staying on top of the baseball. There was a weird wind, I couldn’t tell if the flag was blowing across the field a little bit east. I thought Grahovac’s ball had a chance and the balls hit to center and right field.

“We played about as brutal baseball that you can possibly play, that I ever remember an A&M team playing, either one I’ve coached or seen play, which was out of character for us. But I’m really proud of our team for staying in the fight.

“Zane got us some decent outs. Peery got us four outs. Cortez was obviously electric. If we just knew 8-of-10 times that we would get that for the rest of the season, we’re an infinitely better team.”

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Jackson Appel’s homer hat trick leads No. 3 Texas A&M baseball team to walk-off win vs. UTSA

All 3 of his homers were of the oppo-taco variety, each belted to the left of Olsen Field. The 2-time All-Ivy League selection went 3-for-4.

Thanks to 3 home runs from senior catcher Jackson Appel, the Texas A&M baseball team avoided a midweek upset loss at home versus the University of Texas at San Antonio.

The No. 3 Aggies (29-4) walked off with a narrow 6-5 victory against the Roadrunners (19-14) on Tuesday night at Blue Bell Park in College Station. Texas A&M scored once in the third, eighth and ninth innings, respectively, and 3 in the fifth.

All 3 of Appel’s homers were of the oppo-taco variety, each belted to the left of Olsen Field. The two-time All-Ivy League selection went 3-for-4 with 4 runs batted in, 3 runs scored and 1 walk.

Junior right-handed pitcher Chris Cortez (4-1) pitched the final 4.0 innings to earn the win. He allowed 2 hits and 1 walk with 7 strikeouts on 54 pitches.

The Aggies will now gear up for arguably their toughest SEC home series of the season thus far with three games this weekend versus No. 6 Vanderbilt. First pitch on Friday is scheduled for 6 p.m. CST.

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Texas A&M head coach Jim Scholssnagle speaks after the 6-3 victory over HCU

Here’s what Texas A&M head coach Jim Schlossnalge had to say after the midweek win over HCU

No. 4 Texas A&M (22-3, 3-3 SEC) defeats Houston Christian (7-13) 6-3 in College Station on Tuesday night.

Coach Jim Schlossnagle wasn’t pleased with the batting, but he was glad that he was able to get a lot of pitchers some work. So many pitchers got work that Chris Cortez got the win after only throwing seven pitches. Max Wiener has been doing a good job of getting his guys ready, but now that SEC play has started, they need to use these midweek games to prepare the relief pitchers.

“…it went about as good as we could have hoped in terms of who we wanted to pitch tonight we wanted to get Cortez just a little bit in the middle of an inning and he did that and did it in seven pitches wanted to get Shane back out there and get a little better taste in his mouth I thought Rudis did a great job”

Below, you can watch the full presser Q&A with Jim Schossnagle.

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Texas A&M player Hayden Schott speaks after the 6-3 victory over HCU

Here’s what Texas A&M outfielder Hayden Schott had to say after the midweek win over HCU

No. 4 Texas A&M (22-3, 3-3 SEC) defeats Houston Christian (7-13) 6-3 in College Station on Tuesday night.

The Aggies didn’t look smooth in the batters’ box against HCU, but multiple free passes gave A&M enough runners on base to get six runs on the board. One of the six runs came off the bat of Hayden Schott when we hit a single scoring the first run of the game. Schott explained that when you’re struggling at the plate sometimes you have to find other ways to win.

“I don’t know like we didn’t put that many barrels together which we obviously want to do but at the same time I think we got on base be able to walk around 10 times or something maybe even 11 and when you’re not banging the ball around the ballpark it’s important to get on base and that’s where those hits that kind of just barely leave the infield or stay in the infield can score runs when guys are on base so I think that’s how we won today”

Below, you can watch the full presser Q&A with Hayden Schott

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The No. 4 ranked Texas A&M baseball team is victorious in their midweek matchup against HCU

Texas A&M midweek record remains unblemished as they beat the Houston Christian Huskies 6-3 at home

No. 4 Texas A&M (22-3, 3-3 SEC) defeats Houston Christian (7-13) 6-3 in College Station on Tuesday night.

The Aggies sprinkled in runs across the fight eight innings while blanking the Huskies in that same time frame. It wasn’t easy for Jim Schlossnagle and company on Tuesday night. A&M struggled at the plate early, only managing two hits compared to four strikeouts. Luckily, good plate discipline at the bottom of the third allowed the Aggies three free passes to load the bases.

Hayden Schott finally drove in the Aggies’ first run with a single-scoring Max Kaufer before Cade Sorrell flew out to end the inning. The bottom of the fourth was more of the same, except the walks gave the Aggies a free run without a single hit. However, they did strand six runners on base across those two innings. A&M added two runs apiece in the seventh and eighth innings to go up 6-0 heading into the top of the ninth.

Then Texas A&M made it interesting by loading the bases with a single hit from Houston. A walk, sac fly, and a wild pitch cut the Aggies’ lead to 6-3 with two outs. Fortunately, Josh Stewart induced a pop-up, ending the self-inflicted threat.

  • Total offense:  6 hits, 6 runs
  • Pitching: Chris Cortez W (3-1): 0.1 innings, 0 Ks, 6 pitches. Luke Jackson: 2.2 innings, 2 Ks, 31 pitches. Isaac Morton: 2.0 innings, 2 Ks, 41 pitches. Brad Rudis: 2.0 innings, 4 Ks, 20 pitches. Shane Sdao: 1.0 innings, 2 Ks, 14 pitches. Brock Peery: 0.1 innings, 0 Ks, 20 pitches. Josh Stewart: 0.2 innings, 0 Ks, 14 pitches.

Texas A&M will host Auburn for their third SEC series at Olsen Field at Blue Bell Park on March 28 at 6 p.m.

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No. 4 Texas A&M baseball team suffers first overall loss in SEC opener at No. 8 Florida

The No. 4 Aggies lost their first overall game of the season on Friday night in Gainesville by a final score of 8-6 against No. 8 Florida.

All good things eventually come to an end, as was the case for the Texas A&M baseball team’s unbeaten streak.

The No. 4 Aggies (17-1, 0-1 SEC) lost their first overall game of the season on Friday night in Gainesville, which was also the conference opener, by a final score of 8-6 against No. 8 Florida (11-6, 1-0).

The Gators scored twice in the bottom of the first inning at Condron Ballpark, ending redshirt sophomore left-handed pitcher Ryan Prager’s scoreless inning streak at 24, which was the longest by a Texas A&M pitcher since at least 2000. Prager was pulled after 2.1 innings as he allowed 7 hits, 6 runs and 1 hit by pitch with 1 strikeout on 54 pitches.

Junior right-handed pitcher Chris Cortez (2-1) took over in relief and struck out 7 consecutive batters from the third to fifth frames, totaling 4.0 innings, 2 runs and 2 walks with 8 Ks on 60 pitches. Despite pitching well, Cortez earned the loss.

Sophomore LHP Cade Fisher (2-1) earned the win for Florida and junior RHP Brandon Neely (1) picked up the save. Sophomore outfielder Jace LaViolette went 1-for-4 and extended his on base streak to 18 games. Meanwhile, junior OF Braden Montgomery failed to reach base safely Friday and had his run snapped at 45 contests.

The Aggies will attempt to tie the series against the Gators tomorrow at 5:30 p.m. CST.

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Texas A&M demolishes Texas in front of a record crowd in Austin to move to 12-0 on the year

The Aggies best their little brother to the tune of 9-2 in front of 8,000 plus fans in Austin on Tuesday night

Texas A&M (12-0) got hot late and scored six runs in the final three innings to win 9-2 over Texas (9-5).

The Aggies flexed their dominance in Austin in front of a crowd of 8.060 fans at Disch-Falk Field. Braden Montgomery got the Aggies on the board first with a home run over the right-center field just two pitches after Jace LaViolette was hit by a ball, giving the Maroon & White a quick 2-0 lead. The Maroon & White would hold that two-run lead until the bottom of the fourth inning.

The Longhorns took advantage of a free base and a fielding error, allowing them to put a running in scoring position. Then, a sac bunt followed by a sac fly was put across the plate to cut the lead to 2-1. A&M answered back immediately in the top of the fifth inning when Hayden Schott hit a two-out single through the right side, scoring LaViolette.

The game really opened up in the Aggies’ favor in the top of the seventh inning. A Gavin Grahovac single and Montgomery’s walk, followed by an error by the left fielder during Schott’s at-bat, allowed an unearned run for a 4-1 lead. A Ted Burton sac fly scored Montgomery, and a Jaxon Appel home run put two more on the board, extending the lead to 7-2 with two innings left.

With the bases loaded in the top of the eighth inning, Schott hit the ball to right field that should have only allowed one run, but the fielder let the ball bounce off his leg, allowing LaViolette and Grahovac to score standing up for the last two runs of the inning. After walking the lead-off batter and allowing him to advance due to a wild pitch, Shane Sdao shut down any hope of a miracle comeback by striking out the next three batters for a 9-2 Aggie win.

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Baseball Lone Star Showdown returns as No. 6 Texas A&M Aggies face No. 22 Texas Longhorns

The undefeated Aggies roll into a midweek matchup in Austin at Texas following the College Baseball Series at Globe Life Field in Arlington.

The undefeated Texas A&M baseball team rolls into a midweek matchup in Austin at the University of Texas following a three-game set in the College Baseball Series this past weekend at Globe Life Field in Arlington.

Junior right-handed pitcher Chris Cortez (1-0) is scheduled to start for the No. 6 Aggies (11-0) against redshirt junior RHP Tanner Witt (0-0). On Monday, Texas A&M moved up one spot in the USA TODAY Sports baseball coaches poll. Meanwhile, the No. 22 Longhorns (7-4) dropped nine spots.

Texas has lost three games in a row following a challenging three-game set in the Astros Foundation College Classic at Minute Maid Park this weekend.

The Longhorns lost 6-3 on Friday to the reigning national champions, No. 2 LSU. Texas was upset 11-10 by Texas State on Saturday. The Longhorns were defeated 14-11 on Sunday by No. 10 Vanderbilt.

The Aggies swept McNeese State to begin the season, outscoring the Cowboys 31-1. Texas A&M beat Incarnate Word 9-3 on Feb. 20, Lamar 13-2 on Feb. 27 and USC 9-3 on Saturday in single game play.

In the second weekend at Blue Bell Park, the Aggies swept Wagner and outscored the Seahawks 40-4. Texas A&M beat Arizona State 4-0 and 10-5 on Friday and Sunday, respectively.

The Aggies play the No. 22 Longhorns at UFCU Disch-Falk Field on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m.

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Everything players Cortez and LaViolette had to say after midweek win over UIW

Here’s what Texas A&M players Chris Cortez and Jace LaViolette had to say after win over UIW

Texas A&M (4-0) homers their way past Incarnate Word (3-1) with a 9-3 victory at Blue Bell Park.

The Aggie baseball team is playing complementary ball right now and it makes it easier on the entire team knowing that if pitching or hitting is off either one can keep them in the game this year. This is just the beginning, and they look like a complete team with a lot of room for growth.

Chris Cortez is an interesting case, and his knock has been he has nasty stuff but lacks control. He showed his potential against UIW after settling in after a few innings. It would be great to see him work into the regular rotation. He spoke on how new pitching coach Max Wiener helped his confidence and letting play within himself.

“Allowing us to be ourselves and knowing that we have great stuff like we’re playing at Texas A&M so we have good enough stuff to be here so just fill it up though my whole thing is set up to catch your middle and just throw it middle” – Cortez

Jace LaViolette is striving for perfection and even with five home runs to start the season he is pressing a little bit. he admittedly has been swinging at bad balls and is looking to clean that up and have fun doing it.

“I’m swinging at balls instead of taking my walks and swinging at the strikes which is fine just with maturity and maturing as a hitter which I still have a lot of room to do, but I’d say overall I felt pretty good out there tonight”
“we just honestly enjoy coming here every single day and finally getting to play together as a team instead of playing against one another right and our uh spring scrimmages it’s been a blast I mean this is the funnest team I’ve ever been a part of and it’s a legit family” – LaViolette

Below, you can watch the full post-game presser with Cortez and LaViolette.

The Aggies begin a three-game home series on Friday at 6 p.m. versus Wagner College of Staten Island, New York.

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