Building Champions
 (#4) Texas A&M 7, Utah 2

Aggies win fourth straight

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March 6, 2009

 

Final Stats

Final Stats (PDF) Get Acrobat Reader

Post Game Audio [mp3]:
Head Coach Childress
P Raley

COLLEGE STATION, Texas - Brooks Raley picked up his third win of the season on the mound and went a perfect 4-for-4 at the plate with three runs scored to lead No. 4 Texas A&M to a 7-2 win over Utah Friday evening before 4,867 fans at Olsen Field.

Raley (3-0) fanned eight and allowed two runs and five hits over six complete innings of work, as the Aggies won their fourth in a row and improved to 10-2 on the year. The Utes saw their three-game win streak snapped as they saw their record even at 5-5.

A&M jumped on the board early with two first-inning runs. The Aggies' second batter of the game, Brodie Greene, was hit by a pitch from Utah starter Andrew Wilding. Raley then chopped the first pitch of his at-bat high behind the mound, and the ball kicked off the glove of second baseman Corey Shimada and into shallow center field. Greene moved to third on the play and scored when the ball fell out of Ute center fielder Cooper Blanc's hand, giving the Aggies the lead. Raley moved to second on the play and scored as the next hitter, Luke Anders, laced a 1-2 pitch through the right side of the infield.

After Utah cut the lead in half on an RBI groundout by designated hitter Kevin Hussey, Aggie third baseman Caleb Shofner got the run back in the fourth with a long home run to the left of the batter's eye in center field. His second round-tripper of the year upped the A&M lead to 3-1.

Greene would make the score 4-1 with a fifth-inning sacrifice fly, and Raley followed with a triple to right center field. He would score on the play as the throw in to the infield short-hopped the cutoff man behind second base, pushing the lead to four.

Utah catcher C.J. Cron bounced his second home run of the year off the top of the wall in center field on the first pitch of the sixth, but once again the Aggies would respond--this time on a two-out RBI single by catcher Kevin Gonzalez in the last of the frame to make the score 6-2.

A two-out RBI double into the right field corner by freshman Scott Arthur in the seventh would cap the scoring.

Anders finished the night 2-for-4 with an RBI, while Utah third baseman Nick Kuroczko had a team-high three hits.

The Aggie pen was again outstanding, as Kyle Thebeau tossed two hitless innings of relief while Ross Stripling allowed one hit in a scoreless ninth.

Wilding (0-2) was saddled with the loss, allowing seven hits, six runs (four earned) and one walk over six innings. He struck out five batters on the night.

The series continues on Saturday evening with first pitch set for 6:35 p.m. Junior Alex Wilson (1-1, 1.42 ERA) will make his second career start at Olsen Field for the Aggies and will face Utah junior Jordan Whatcott (1-0, 9.00 ERA). The game will air locally on WTAW-AM 1620 and free live video will be available on aggieathletics.com.

POSTGAME NOTES

• Friday's contest marked Rob Childress' 200th game as the head baseball coach at Texas A&M...he sports an overall record of 129-70-1 in his fourth season in Aggieland.

• Brooks Raley became the first Aggie to start on the mound and be in the batting order since Cory Patton did so on April 21, 2004 in a game at UT Arlington...Patton went 2-for-4 in the game with a pair of RBIs.

• A&M improved to 8-1 at home on the season.

• Texas A&M now leads the all-time series with Utah, 3-2.

• The Aggies scored in the first inning for the fourth time this year (4-0).

• Kyle Thebeau took over sole possession of second place all-time on the A&M charts with his 84th career appearance on the mound...he now sits two shy of the all-time leader, Chris Russ (86).

• With a pair of strikeouts, Thebeau upped his career total to 224, moving him past Kelly Wunsch into 10th place on the A&M all-time career strikeout list.

• Gametime temperature was 79 degrees with mostly clear skies and winds blowing out to center field at 17 miles per hour (gusting to 30).

POSTGAME QUOTES

HEAD COACH Rob Childress: (on letting Raley hit while starting the game on the mound) "With those three at the top of the lineup, in Colligan, Greene and Raley, there's a lot of pressure. And you don't want to change that dynamic even when Brooks is pitching. We wanted to find out if he could handle that, and not take his at-bats to the mound and not take his pitches to the plate. He did a pretty good job of that tonight."

(on the possibility of him doing it more often) "Well, if attitude has anything to do with it, he's going to be the one guy that can handle it. That guy wants to be a part of everything that we're doing every day of the week. Every time we take the field, he wants to be on it. Right now he's playing pretty good and pitching pretty well too."

(on the offense) "Tonight was a pretty good performance, but our expectation as a coaching staff and as an offense is that we know we're a lot better than we've played. We're 10-2 and we still feel like we've got room for improvement and that's a good feeling."

(on the team's effort) "I really feel like the last week we've played with an edge, and we've played extremely hard with great energy, even in the middle of the week. And that's all I can ask for. I want us to play Aggie baseball every time we take the field, and I feel like if we get great effort and great attitude, that's all I can ask for. The wins and losses will take care of themselves. But for about the last week it's been pretty good."

SOPHOMORE P Brooks Raley: (on whether or not he was surprised to get to pitch and hit) "You know, I was, but Coach talked about it earlier in the season that if the opportunity came along, he would hit me. And I was going to step up and do what I can."

(on the Utah offense and his approach) "They are good hitters. I just had to get ahead in the zone. I had good stuff tonight, and I made good pitches when I needed to. And when I didn't, the ball got hit hard. It just worked out."

(on if being in the lineup helps the focus on the mound) "Yes and no. I look forward to pitching or hitting every day. But they are two different concepts. When you get on the mound you have to throw strikes. And when you're hitting, you have to drive the ball."


 

 

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