No. 18 OU Evens Series with 8-7 Win over Aggies

Saturday, April 17

College Station, TX

Texas A&M

31-10, 7-7

Oklahoma

24-13, 11-3

Oklahoma

Texas A&M

Apr 17, 2004 | Baseball

Box Score

By: Texas A&M Athletics

April 17, 2004

No. 13 Texas A&M scored two runs in the bottom of the ninth but left the tying run on second, as No. 18 Oklahoma held on to even the three-game series with a 8-7 win in front of 7,774 fans at Olsen Field.

A RBI triple by Cory Patton and an RBI infield single by Craig Stinson pulled the Aggies to within one run. With two outs and runners on first and second, Jared McAuliff fanned Coby Mavroulis - who finished the day four-for-five - to end the game.

With the loss, the Aggies dropped to 31-10 overall and to 7-7 in Big 12 play. The Sooners improved to 24-13 and 11-3 in the league.

The deciding game of the series will be played on Sunday. First pitch is set for 1 p.m. at Olsen Field.

Erik Schindewolf led off the bottom of the first with a double down the line in left and moved to third on a groundout to second by Cliff Pennington. Schindewolf raced home on a passed ball to give the Aggies a 1-0 lead.

Oklahoma answered with two runs in the top of the second. After Andrew McGuire reached on a fielder's choice and Ryan Mottern singled, a double steal moved them to second and third, respectively. A RBI groundout by Brandon Lance and a RBI single by Chad Lembeck plated the pair of runs.

The Sooners stretched their lead in the top of the fourth when Brennan Herrera started the inning with a triple and scored on a sacrifice fly McGuire.

The Aggies regained the lead in the bottom of the fourth when they scored three runs off Oklahoma starting pitcher David Purcey. With one out, Craig Stinson walked, Mavroulis singled and John Infante walked to load the bases. Travis Bartek doubled down the line in right to score two runs and a groundout by Schindewolf scored the third of the inning.

Texas A&M's lead was short lived as OU scored a pair of runs in the top of the fifth off A&M starter Zach Jackson to regain the lead, 5-4. Jeff Scuderi hit a solo homer to start the inning and Russell Raley, who walked earlier in the inning, scored on a single by Ole Sheldon.

The Aggies scored an unearned run in the bottom of the sixth to tie the game at five. With one out, Mavroulis reached on a bunt single and moved to second when Purcey's throw sailed into the dugout. Infante followed with a single up the middle which allowed Mavroulis to score.

Oklahoma once again answered the Aggies with two runs in the top of the seventh to chase Jackson from the game. Scuderi tripled and scored on a single by Raley. Ryan Rolinger sacrifice bunted Raley to second and a RBI double by Sheldon made the score 7-5.

Jackson (7-3) suffered the loss, allowing seven runs on 11 hits in 6.1 innings of work.

Oklahoma tacked on what would prove to be an important insurance run in the top of the ninth. Raley blooped a double between three A&M players in shallow right and scored on a two-out Texas-leaguer to left by Herrera.

Purcey (5-3) allowed five runs (four earned) on nine hits. He fanned nine in his 7.1 innings of work.

The 7,774 fans that poured through the turnstiles was the largest crowd of the season and the sixth largest in Olsen Field history. Texas A&M has had over 7,000 fans for seven of their home games this season.