Texas A&M
31-11, 7-8
Oklahoma
25-13, 12-3
Aggies Drop Deciding Game to Sooners, 9-5
Apr 18, 2004 | Baseball
April 18, 2004
Cory Patton hit a grand slam in the bottom of the first but No. 13 Texas A&M could manage just one more run as No. 18 Oklahoma defeated the Aggies, 9-5, in front of 4,991 fans at Olsen Field.
With the loss, Texas A&M dropped to 31-11 overall and to 7-8 in Big 12 play. Oklahoma improved to 25-13 and to a league-leading 12-3 in conference action.
The Aggies could not find the answer on the mound as five different A&M hurlers combined to walk eight hitters and hit three batters. Oklahoma managed just five hits on the afternoon. Kyle Marlatt (3-1) shouldered the loss.
Mike Swindell (2-2), who came in the game in the second inning as Oklahoma's third pitcher of the afternoon, earned the win by pitching six innings in relief. He allowed one run on four hits and struck out four.
Aggie starting pitcher Justin Moore had trouble finding the strike zone in the first and was replaced by Dan Donaldson with two outs in the inning. Moore walked two men, hit a batter and allowed an RBI single to Ole Sheldon and an RBI groundout to Brenan Herrera. Donaldson struck out the first man he faced to end the inning, but not before OU staked a 2-0 lead.
Oklahoma starter Daniel McCutchen did not make it out of the first inning either. Cliff Pennington led off with a single, McHutchen hit Coby Mavroulis and Austin Boggs reached on a dropped fly ball by leftfielder Ryan Mottern. Patton mashed a 1-1 pitch over the scoreboard in right center to clear the bases and give the Aggies a 4-2 lead. After Craig Stinson walked, Charlie House replaced McCutchen and coaxed John Infante to ground into a double play to end the inning.
Texas A&M added a run in the bottom of the third. Justin Ruggiano doubled to start the inning and scored one hitter later when Stinson singled up the middle.
Oklahoma scored six runs on two hits - one an infield single - in the top of the fourth to retake the lead, 8-5. Oklahoma walked three times and had a runner reach by getting hit by a pitch. Russell Raley drove in a run with an infield single and Ryan Rohlinger hit a grand slam to do the damage in the inning.
Eric Thornton hit a solo homer in the top of the seventh to increase the OU lead to 9-5.
Patton, Ruggiano and Travis Bartek each had two hits for the Aggies. Bartek belted a double and a triple while Ruggiano had a pair of doubles.
The Aggies return to action this Tuesday, April 20, when they play at Texas-Arlington. First pitch is set for 7 p.m. at Clay Gould Ballpark.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Swindell, Mike (2-2)
L: Marlatt, Kyle (3-1)
Batting:
HR: Rohlinger, Ryan 1 ; Thornton, Eric 1
RBI: Raley, Russell 1 ; Rohlinger, Ryan 4 ; Sheldon, Ole 1 ; Thornton, Eric 1 ; Herrera, Brenan 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Scuderi, Jeff 1 ; Raley, Russell 2 ; Rohlinger, Ryan 2 ; Thornton, Eric 1 ; Herrera, Brenan 1 ; Mottern, Ryan 1 ; Stinson, Josh 1
SB: Ivey, Aaron 1 ; McGuire, Andrew 1
CS: Rohlinger, Ryan 1 ; Stinson, Josh 1
HBP: Raley, Russell 1 ; Herrera, Brenan 1 ; Stinson, Josh 1
Batting:
2B: Ruggiano, Justin 2 ; Bartek, Travis 1
3B: Bartek, Travis 1
HR: Patton, Cory 1
RBI: Patton, Cory 4 ; Stinson, Craig 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Pennington, Cliff 1 ; Mavroulis, Coby 1 ; Boggs, Austin 1 ; Patton, Cory 1 ; Ruggiano, Justin 1
SB: Bartek, Travis 1
HBP: Mavroulis, Coby 1 ; Bartek, Travis 1
