Hujsak delivers again as Cardiac Dawgs knock off No. 4 A&M, advance in SECT
For the second-straight night. Connor Hujsak came up with two outs in the ninth inning needing to deliver a big hit.
For the second-straight night, Hujsak did just that.
The senior outfielder had bases loaded and two strikes against him when he went after a pitch and grounded it up the middle driving in two runs. That would prove to be the difference in another close game for the Diamond Dawgs as they beat the No. 4 team in the nation in Texas A&M, 5-3.
Big Hit Sak
That two-RBI single from Hujsak provided back-to-back game winners for the former VCU transfer as he followed up his walk-off home run against Ole Miss in game one of the SEC Tournament on Tuesday with another clutch base knock. It wasn’t pretty for the Bulldogs, but they found a way again.
“Stressful, but it’s been some great baseball,” coach Chris Lemonis said. “I told our team welcome to the Connor Hujsak Invitational hosted by the SEC. I’m so happy for him. He’s such a great kid and works so hard.”
At times, it felt like the Bulldogs had missed their chance to take down the Aggies. State came out hitting the ball in the first four innings as the Bulldogs would have eight hits during that time frame and get out to a 3-0 lead.
But it was more about what the Bulldogs had not done to the Aggies along the way. State left eight on the bases in the first four frames and started the game 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position as the opportunities were missed.
A wild pitch got a run home in the second inning and then David Mershon drove a two-run home run out of the park in left field in the third, but State couldn’t get more than that for the next five innings.
Though Khal Stephen had battled for State, he would leave the game in the sixth after allowing the first two runners to reach. Tyson Hardin came in and couldn’t get out of the inning without it being knotted up as a sacrifice fly and an RBI double would make it 3-3.
With the Aggies getting two of their best bullpen arms in the game in Chris Cortez and Evan Aschenbeck, chances looked bleak for the Bulldogs. But Nate Dohm fought with Cortez as he went 2.0 shutout innings.
After Cortez had retired the first seven batters with five strikeouts, State finally got on base against him with back-to-back hit batters in the ninth inning. Hunter Hines would get on base with an error and the Bulldogs were in business with just one out and the bases loaded.
Aschenbeck got a pop up to Dakota Jordan for the second out and got two strikes on Hujsak before he would come through with the big hit.
“Just wanted to get something elevated. I knew I was going to get a changeup elevated and I wanted to send it up the middle and that’s exactly what happened,” Hujsak told SEC Network. “This is what I’ve dreamed about since I was a kid. Getting to play on the big stage.”
Hujsak has two hits in the SEC Tournament to this point and both of them were the game winners that drove in two RBI each. The Bulldogs had nine base knocks in the game with three hits each coming off the bat of Mershon and Amani Larry. Mershon was a triple shy of the cycle and had two RBI in the game.
Dohm (4-0) earned the win after throwing 2.0 innings, give up just one hit, no runs, no walks and striking out a batter. Dohm has now thrown 5.0 scoreless innings since his return to the mound last week.
Tyler Davis earned his fifth save of the year as he came in and threw a perfect ninth inning with a strikeout.
Up Next
State (38-19) made another serious push towards locking up a host spot for the NCAA Tournament. The No. 15 Bulldogs’ RPI moved up to No. 19 with the win as State earned its 20th win against SEC teams this year and the 16th Quad I victory of the year. This one was against the No. 1 RPI team in the country.
“We’re working on how to play in the postseason,” Lemonis said. “I just think the experience of being here and getting ready for next week we’re doing a lot. We’re getting close to hosting right now.”
Another tough matchup is on the way on Thursday evening as State takes on a hot Vanderbilt team in the 8 p.m. game at the Met. The ‘Dores knocked off No. 1 seed Tennessee on Wednesday afternoon.
