Texas A&M
42-21
LSU
45-17
Aggies Fall to No. 8 LSU in NCAA Super Regional Opener
Jun 12, 2004 | Baseball
June 12, 2004
Travis Bartek and John Infante each had three hits, but it was not enough as No. 8 LSU defeated No. 14 Texas A&M, 11-8 in front of 7,598 fans at Alex Box Stadium Saturday night.
With the loss, the Aggies dropped to 42-21 on the season, while LSU improved to 45-17. The Aggies will look to extend the best-of-three series when the two teams play game two at 5 p.m. on Sunday.
The Aggies jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the top of the first and chased LSU starting pitcher Nate Bumstead in the process. Bumstead walked Erik Schindewolf and Cliff Pennington to start the inning and Cory Patton reached on an error, scoring Schindewolf in the process. Three consecutive two-out singles by Infante, Bartek and Justin Ruggiano pushed four more runs across.
Bumstead was replaced by Jason Determan after recording just two outs and allowing five runs (one earned) on three hits.
Tiger lead-off hitter J.C. Holt deposited the second pitch he saw from A&M starter Jason Meyer over the wall in right to cut the Aggies' lead to 5-1.
LSU cut the A&M lead to one run in the bottom of the second. Holt delivered a two-RBI singled followed by a RBI single by Ryan Patterson.
Patterson struck again in the bottom of the fourth with an RBI double that tied the game and chased Meyer from the hill. Jon Zeringue then singled off reliever Doug Frame to give the Tigers their first lead of the game.
After Determan pitched four scoreless innings, Pennington blasted a two-run homer with two outs in the top of the sixth to retake the lead, 7-6. The dinger was the fifth of the season for Pennington and his first since April 2.
Patterson hit a solo homer to start the LSU sixth off Robert Ray to tie the game at seven. Four more singles in the inning plated two additional runs, earning the Tigers a 9-7 lead. Clay Harris and Ivan Naccarata had RBIs in the inning.
Bartek collected his third RBI of the evening in the top of the seventh to again cut the LSU lead to one run. Bartek's single scored Austin Boggs, who reached on a two-base error to start the inning.
The Tigers added a pair of insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth to increase their lead to three runs.
Determan (6-4) earned the win, surrendering six hits and three runs in six innings of work.
Jordan Faircloth pitched a scoreless 2.1 innings to record his fourth save of the season.
Ray (2-2) shouldered the loss for the Aggies, allowing three runs on four hits in the sixth.
Sunday's game will be televised regionally on ESPN2. Fans can also listen to the game on 1620-AM.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Determann, Jason (6-4)
L: Ray, Robert (2-2)
S: Faircloth, Jordan (4)
Batting:
2B: Pennington, Cliff 1 ; Bartek, Travis 1
HR: Pennington, Cliff 1
RBI: Pennington, Cliff 2 ; Infante, John 1 ; Bartek, Travis 3 ; Ruggiano, Justin 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Schindewolf, Erik 1 ; Pennington, Cliff 1 ; Patton, Cory 1 ; Boggs, Austin 2 ; Stinson, Craig 1 ; Infante, John 1 ; Bartek, Travis 1
SB: Infante, John 1
HBP: Mavroulis, Coby 1
Batting:
2B: Patterson, Ryan 1
HR: Holt, J.C. 1 ; Patterson, Ryan 1
RBI: Holt, J.C. 3 ; Patterson, Ryan 3 ; Zeringue, Jon 1 ; Harris, Bryan 1 ; Naccarata, Ivan 1 ; Harris, Bryan 1 ; Gill, Blake 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Holt, J.C. 1 ; Patterson, Ryan 2 ; Liuzza, Matt 1 ; Zeringue, Jon 1 ; Stavinoha, Nick 1 ; Harris, Bryan 1 ; Naccarata, Ivan 2 ; Harris, Bryan 1 ; Gill, Blake 1
HBP: Stavinoha, Nick 1 ; Harris, Bryan 1
