Texas A&M
8-1
UT Arlington
3-5
Texas A&M 9, UTA 5
Feb 20, 2007 | Baseball
February 20, 2007
Kyle Nicholson struck out seven in seven-complete innings and Ben Feltner went 3-for-4 with a double, a RBI, and a run scored on Tuesday night as No. 24 Texas A&M defeated Texas-Arlington, 9-5, at Olsen Field.
?I thought Kyle Nicholson had a great outing tonight,? A&M head coach Rob Childress said. ?We got to play a lot of people tonight and I thought we came out ready to play. I was proud of the way we played tonight.?
Nicholson?™s (2-1) seven innings was a season high for all A&M pitchers and his seven strikeouts tied a career high. He struck out five of the last six hitters he faced and did not walk a man.
Offensively, A&M pounded out season highs in hits (14) and runs scored. Along with Feltner, Brandon Hicks had two doubles and Blake Stouffer, Craig Stinson, and Kyle Colligan each had two hits each.
With their seventh consecutive win, the Aggies improved to 8-1, while the Mavericks dropped to 3-5.
UTA took the early lead on a two-run home run to left by Mitch Putman. It was the second of the year for Putman and it also scored Danny Slinkman, who was hit by a pitch to start the inning.
The Aggies tied the game in the bottom of the second when Colligan was hit by a pitch to start the inning and Luke Anders legged out an infield single. Brian Ruggiano perfectly executed a sacrifice bunt to move both runners into scoring position, before an RBI single by Josh Stinson and a RBI double by Hicks.
Back-to-back triples by Craig Stinson and Darby Brown started the A&M half of the third. One batter later Colligan drove in Brown with a groundout to earn the Aggies a 4-2 lead.
Hicks slashed his second double of the game down the line in left, stole second and scored on a double by Feltner to increase the A&M lead to 5-2.
A&M stretched its lead to 9-2 in the sixth. Stouffer and Colligan drove in runs with singles while Feltner scored on a passed ball and Craig Stinson trotted home on a wild pitch.
A&M relievers Michael Heard, Evan Gerald and Travis Starling split the last two frames.
Heard fanned one and allowed a solo homer to Kyle Rudy in the eighth and Gerald struck out one and walked one in 2/3 of an inning. Starling allowed a two-run homer in the ninth to Leo Radkowski, before getting a groundout to end the game.
Mavericks?™ starter Brandon Endsley (1-1) lasted just three-complete innings and allowed four runs on seven hits.
The Aggies return to action this weekend with a three-game series against Jacksonville State. First pitch is set for Friday?™s game one at 6:30 p.m. at Olsen Field.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Nicholson, Kyle (2-1)
L: Endsley (1-1)
Batting:
2B: Putman 1
HR: Rudy 1 ; Putman 1 ; Radkowski 1
RBI: Rudy 1 ; Putman 2 ; Radkowski 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Rudy 1 ; Slinkman 2 ; Putman 1 ; Radkowski 1
HBP: Slinkman 1
Batting:
2B: Hicks, Brandon 2 ; Feltner, Ben 1
3B: Stinson, Craig 1 ; Brown, Darby 1
RBI: Hicks, Brandon 1 ; Feltner, Ben 1 ; Stouffer, Blake 1 ; Brown, Darby 1 ; Colligan, Kyle 2 ; Stinson, Josh 1
SH: Ruggiano, Brian 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Hicks, Brandon 1 ; Feltner, Ben 1 ; Stinson, Craig 2 ; Brown, Darby 1 ; Jackson, Spencer 1 ; Colligan, Kyle 1 ; Anders, Luke 1 ; Stinson, Josh 1
SB: Hicks, Brandon 1 ; Stouffer, Blake 2 ; Jackson, Spencer 1 ; Colligan, Kyle 1
HBP: Colligan, Kyle 1
