Texas A&M
20-3, 0-1
Baylor
7-13, 1-0
Aggies Drop Big 12 Opener
Mar 19, 2004 | Baseball
March 19, 2004
No. 9 Texas A&M scored three runs in the bottom of the ninth but it was one shy as Baylor held on the beat the Aggies, 8-7, in front of 5,629 fans on opening-day action of Big 12 play.
With the loss the Aggies dropped to 20-3 overall and to 0-1 in Big 12 play. Baylor moved to 7-13 and 1-0 in league play.
Baylor closer Zane Carlson hit John Infante and walked Erik Schindewolf, before being replaced by Ryan LaMotta. Infante scored on a passed ball and after LaMotta fanned Cliff Pennington, Cory Patton hit an opposite field homerun to get the Aggies to within one run.
Coby Mavroulis and Austin Boggs each singled to move the tying run into scoring position, Abe Woody spelled LaMotta. Justin Ruggiano, the first man Woody faced, sharply grounded into a double play to end the game.
The Aggies used two Baylor errors in the bottom of the first to score the game's initial runs. Erik Schindewolf walked and Pennington doubled down the line in left. Schindewolf scored when Baylor shortstop booted a groundball and Pennington scored on a throwing error by Baylor first baseman Jared Clements.
Pennington's double extended his hitting streak to 19 games.
Baylor sent nine men to the plate and used six straight hits off A&M starting pitcher Zach Jackson to score five runs and take the lead in the top of the third. The big blow of the inning was a two-run homer by designated hitter Josh Ford. Reid Brees drove in a run with a double and Clements plated two more with a single.
Texas A&M cut the lead to one run in the bottom of the fourth on a RBI groundout by Craig Stinson and a RBI double by John Infante.
Mike Pankratz led off the top of the fifth with his second homerun of the season to increase Baylor's lead to 6-4 and chase Jackson from the game.
Jackson (5-1) lasted just four-plus innings, allowing six earned runs on 12 hits. He struck out five and did not allow a walk.
Baylor tagged on an insurance run in the ninth when Kevin Sevigny singled home Pankratz to give the Bears a 8-4 lead.
Michael Griffin drove in Drew Sutton, who reached on an error by A&M shortstop Cliff Pennington, to make the score 7-4 in the top of the sixth.
Baylor starter Sean Walker (3-1) lasted 7.2 innings, allowing five hits and surrendered two earned runs.
Games two and three of the series will shift to the Baylor Ballpark on Saturday and Sunday. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. and 2 p.m., respectively.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Walker, Sean (1-3)
L: Jackson, Zach (5-1)
S: Woody, Abe (1)
Batting:
2B: Griffin, Michael 1 ; Brees, Reid 1
HR: Ford, Josh 1 ; Pankratz, Mike 1
RBI: Griffin, Michael 1 ; Ford, Josh 2 ; Pankratz, Mike 1 ; Brees, Reid 1 ; Clements, Jared 1 ; Sevigny, Kevin 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Sutton, Drew 1 ; Griffin, Michael 1 ; Ford, Josh 1 ; Bullock, Tyler 1 ; Pankratz, Mike 3 ; Brees, Reid 1
SB: Pankratz, Mike 1
Batting:
2B: Pennington, Cliff 1 ; Infante, John 1
HR: Patton, Cory 1
RBI: Patton, Cory 3 ; Stinson, Craig 1 ; Infante, John 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Schindewolf, Erik 2 ; Pennington, Cliff 1 ; Patton, Cory 1 ; Boggs, Austin 1 ; Ruggiano, Justin 1 ; Infante, John 1
HBP: Infante, John 1
