February 12, 2006
John Infante perfectly executed a squeeze bunt in the bottom of the ninth to plate Adam Hale on Sunday afternoon to lead Texas A&M past Northwestern State before 4,034 fans at Olsen Field.
Hale drew a walk from NSU reliever Ben Rodriquez after falling behind in the count, 0-2. Hale then stole second and moved to third on a wild pitch.
?Matt Deggs called the squeeze and did a great job of managing our offense this weekend,? head coach Rob Childress said. ?Johnny is one of our best bunters and he had a 2-1 count. I thought it was a great call because wanted to get that run in and not have to go to extra innings for the second straight game.?
With the series sweep, the Aggies improved to 3-0 while the Demons dropped to 0-3.
Texas A&M scored first in the bottom of the third to take a 1-0 lead. Parker Dalton singled to left off NSU starter Kyle Broughton to start the inning and stole second. After Brandon Glover?â„¢s sacrifice bunt moved Dalton to third, Jose Salazar lifted a sacrifice fly to left to score the initial run of the game.
After not allowing a hit through the first four innings, A&M starter Austin Creps made his only mistake of the game to Michael Flower, who sliced a homer over the wall in right to tie the game at one.
Creps lasted seven-complete innings, allowing just one run on three hits. The Texas Collegiate League Player of the Year, Creps struck out a career-high eight hitters but did not figure in the decision.
Jason Meyer replaced Creps to start the eighth and recorded two outs before giving way to Jordan Chambless with a runner on second. Chambless struck out Brandon Morgan to end the inning and keep the score tied at one.
Chambless then (1-0) retired all three men he faced in the ninth to earn the win and set the stage for the nith-inning rally.
Broughton (0-1) was the tough-luck loser, surrendering just one run on seven hits in eight-complete innings on the mound.
The Aggies return to action this Tuesday, February 14, when they travel to Huntsville, Texas to play Sam Houston State. First pitch is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Bearkat Ballpark.