February 26, 2004
No. 14 Texas A&M will host Arkansas and New Mexico in the 2004 Domino's Pizza Aggie Baseball Classic this weekend at Olsen Field. The tournament will be a double round-robin format with three games on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE Friday, Feb. 27 New Mexico vs. Arkansas 11 a.m. Olsen Field Friday, Feb. 27 Arkansas vs. Texas A&M 3 p.m. Olsen Field Friday, Feb. 27 Texas A&M vs. New Mexico 7 p.m. Olsen Field Saturday, Feb. 28 Arkansas vs. New Mexico 11 a.m. Olsen Field Saturday, Feb. 28 New Mexico vs. Texas A&M 3 p.m. Olsen Field Saturday, Feb. 28 Texas A&M vs. Arkansas 7 p.m. Olsen Field Sunday, Feb. 29 Texas A&M vs. Arkansas 11 a.m. Olsen Field Sunday, Feb. 29 Arkansas vs. New Mexico 3 p.m. Olsen Field Sunday, Feb. 29 New Mexico vs. Texas A&M 7 p.m. Olsen Field RECORDS AND RANKINGS Team Record BBAmer NCBWA CollBB ESPN Texas A&M 7-0 20 22 14 23 Arkansas 8-0 NR RV NR RV New Mexico 0-2-1 NR NR NR NR
LISTEN TO AGGIE BASEBALL ON THE RADIO
Fans who are unable to attend Texas A&M baseball games can listen to all the action live on AM-1620 WTAW. Airtime for all games will be 15 minutes prior to first pitch.
The baseball broadcasting team features legendary braodcaster and "The Voice of the Aggies" Dave South. Joining Dave in the booth will be WTAW sports director Tom Turbiville, baseball media relations director Chuck Glenewinkel and frequent contributor to A&M sports broadcasts Will Johnson.
WATCH AGGIE BASEBALL ON THE WEB
Fans can watch all home and select away Aggie baseball games this season live online through Aggie Ultimate Access, a subscription service of AggieAthletics.com. Membership to AUA is $4.95 a month or $49 per year and includes video highlights, features and behind-the-scenes access from football, basketball and baseball, as well as the live baseball games.
Fans can also pay on an a-la-carte basis for $3.95 per game, which includes just the live game coverage. Sign up at AggieAthletics.com.
TICKETS TO AGGIE BASEBALL
Fans can purchase season and individual tickets for all Texas A&M Athletic events by calling the Athletic Ticket Office at (979) 845-2311 or (888) 99-AGGIE. Fans can also purchase ticket online at www.12thManFoundation.com.
LISTEN TO THE MARK JOHNSON DAILY SHOW
Every Monday through Friday, Aggie baseball fans can listen to the Mark Johnson Daily Show to get the latest information and analysis straight from the source. The show is hoted by Dave South and airs on AM-1150 WTAW at 7:20 a.m. and is replayed everyday at 5:20 p.m. on AM-1620 WTAW.
TEXAS A&M vs. ARKANSAS HISTORY
All-Time Series Record A&M leads, 35-28-1
Texas A&M and Arkansas have not played since Arkansas moved from the Southwest Conference to the Southeastern Conference. The last series between the two schools was in 1991. The Aggies won the first two games of the series (9-3 and 2-0), before dropping the finale, 7-4. Current baseball assistant Jason Hutchins suffered the loss in the Aggies' last game against Arkansas. Hutch lasted 6.2 innings, allowing five runs on five hits. He also struck out five batters, while walking four and hitting a man.
Arkansas head coach Dave Van Horn is in his second season with the Razorbacks. Van Horn was the head coach at Nebraska prior to his current position at Arkansas.
TEXAS A&M vs. NEW MEXICO HISTORY
All-Time Series Record Tied, 1-1
Texas A&M and New Mexico have played just twice in the two programs' histories - in the 1995 Aggie Baseball Continental Classic.
Aggie head coach Mark Johnson played at the University of New Mexico from 1964-1967.
TEXAS A&M HEAD COACH MARK JOHNSON
Texas A&M head coach Mark Johnson is currently in his 20th season. He is the winningest skipper in Texas A&M history.
Johnson has a career record of 811-384-2 and his winning percentage of .678 ranks him in the top 15 among active Division I coaches. Johnson has led the Aggies to 12 NCAA regional tournaments and nine times Texas A&M has reached the regional championship game. Under Johnson, the Aggies have made two College World Series appearances (1993 and 1999). Five of Johnson's teams have won conference championships (SWC: 1986, 1989, 1993; Big 12: 1998, 1999).
In 1998 and 1999, Johnson was named the Big 12 Coach of the Year. He is also a five-time recipient of the ABCA Regional Coach of the Year award.
In January of 2001, Johnson was inducted into the the American Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame and in December of 2002, he was inducted into the Texas Baseball Hall of Fame.
Coach Johnson has led 12 Texas A&M teams to 40-win seasons and five of those teams have won 50 or more games.
Before becoming the head coach at Texas A&M in 1984, Johnson spent 15 years as an assistant with stints at New Mexico (1970-1971), Arizona (1972-1976), Mississippi State (1977-1982) and Texas A&M (1983-1984). Johnson was tutored by some of college baseball's most respected and recognized coaches, including Tom Chandler (Texas A&M), Ron Polk (Mississippi State), Jerry Kindall (Arizona), Frank Sancet (Arizona) and Bob Leigh (New Mexico).
JIM LAWLER: ASST. COACH OF THE YEAR
Longtime Texas A&M baseball coach Jim Lawler was named the 2003 National Assistant Coach of the Year by the American Baseball Coaches Association and Baseball America Magazine.
Lawler, a native of Carroll, Iowa, came to Texas A&M as the pitching coach and recruiting coordinator when Johnson became the head coach in 1985. In 1989, Lawler was promoted to his current position of assistant head coach.
Lawler has seen his recent pitching staffs continue to be among the nation's best. Texas A&M has had a pitcher earn All-America honors in eight of the last 14 seasons.
Four Aggie pitchers under Lawler's tutelage--Chris Clemons, Kelly Wunsch, Jeff Granger and Chance Caple--were drafted in the first round of the Major League Baseball Amateur Draft. Lawler has watched a total of 10 Aggie pitchers get drafted in the first two rounds of the draft, including 2003 second-rounders Brian Finch, Logan Kensing and Scott Beerer. In Lawler's 19 years at A&M, 51 Aggie hurlers have been drafted.
Currently, Lawler has several of his former pitchers in professional baseball, including big-leaguers Ryan Rupe, Casey Fossum and Wunsch.
Lawler came to Texas A&M from the University of Texas-El Paso, where he was the head coach. Prior to his stint there, Lawler was the head coach at Gonzaga, where his 1980 team finished the season ranked ninth in the country.
BIG 12 PITCHER / PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Zach Jackson debuted in an auspicious manner for the 2004 Aggies after transferring to Aggieland from Louisville. The junior lefty needed just 93 pitches to toss a seven-inning no-hitter (complete game due to 10-run rule) with eight strikeouts and one walk in a 15-0 victory over NCAA Division I independent Texas A&M Corpus Christi. It was the 10th no-hitter in history by Aggie pitchers, the sixth (of a current seven) in Big 12 annals and the first solo gem since the Aggies' Matt Blank fired a no-hitter against Texas-Pan American in the 1996 home opener.
Cliff Pennington sizzled to a .647 batting average in four games last week with an 11-for-17 showing against Sam Houston and South Alabama. The Aggies swept the four contests and moved up to No. 14 in the Collegiate Baseball national poll behind his five RBI, six runs scored, two triples, .882 slugging percentage, and no strikeouts in 18 plate appearances for an on-base percentage of .667. He had nine hits in the three-game series against the Sun Belt Conference-contending Jaguars and was 9-for-14 in that activity. The Ags' shortstop also drove in the winning run with a walkoff single in the bottom of the ninth of A&M's finale 4-3 victory over USA. Pennington also raised his 2004 season's average to .500 (14-for-28).
Justin Moore, who was limited to eight total innings in three 2003 season appearances due to an injury, continued his '04 surge with eight innings of two-hit work on the mound in an 8-0 victory over South Alabama. The senior righthander struck out five, walked one and did not allow a runner to reach second base during his eight frames. He needed just 94 pitches to start the combined shutout with teammate and relief ace Jason Meyer. Moore also lowered his earned run average to 1.93 in 14 innings and two starts this year.