Brockman Pitches Aggies Past Bearkats

Tuesday, May 2

College Station

8:00 PM

Texas A&M

22-26

Sam Houston

22-22

Sam Houston

Texas A&M

May 02, 2006 | Baseball

Box Score

By: Texas A&M Athletics

May 02, 2006

Texas A&M defeated Sam Houston, 12-9, on Tuesday night, but the real story was a fifth-year senior Ben Brockman, who dazzled the Olsen Field crowd with four innings of one-hit relief with a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his pitching arm.

Brockman suffered the injury prior to the start of the season and was informed by the NCAA that he would not receive a medical redshirt. The Abilene Christian transfer and native of Katy, Texas, decided to delay surgery and hoped to contribute at some point during the year, knowing the procedure would be the end of his college career.

?I have waited all year for a chance to get on the mound,? Brockman said. ?To get out there and do what I did was a lot of fun and answered a lot of prayers. It is unfortunate that I got dealt a bad hand of cards, but I was just glad I got out there today and helped the team win.?

With the Aggies leading 11-9 after only four-complete innings of play, A&M head coach Rob Childress called Brockman?™s number.

?What makes coaching special is when you have a guy on your team like Ben Brockman who all he wants to do is throw for Texas A&M,? Childress said. ?That may be the only win he gets at Texas A&M, but it is special because there is nothing he will not do for this team.?

Brockman (1-0) fanned four and walked one in his second appearance of the year. He threw two-thirds of an inning against Texas-San Antonio last Tuesday.

?Last week I threw nine pitches in a game and I felt like my arm was about to fall off,? stated Brockman. ?I think of myself as a competitor and I want to get out there and throw as much as I can. Fortunately, my arm felt good tonight and I was able to hold on for four innings.?

The outing could be the last for Brockman, who is scheduled to have surgery to repair the ligament next Wednesday.

Anthony Vasquez tossed a scoreless ninth to record his first save of the year.

Kyle Colligan led the way offensively for the Aggies, going 3-for-4 with four RBIs and two stolen bases. Keith Stein, Jake Vasquez and Ryan Hill all added two hits.

A&M would never relinquish the lead after the bottom of the second when they sent 10 men to the plate and scored six runs on five hits against three Sam Houston pitchers.

Texas A&M returns to action this weekend with a two-game series against Dallas Baptist. First pitch is set for game one on Friday at 7 p.m. at Olsen Field. The second game will be played on Saturday at 7 p.m.