Texas A&M
41-16
Nebraska
29-23
Baseball Drops Big 12 Championship Opener
May 23, 2007 | Baseball
May 23, 2007
The No. 11 Texas A&M baseball team had runners in scoring position in every inning but the ninth, but scored in just three of those innings Wednesday, dropping its opening game of the Big 12 Tournament, 5-3, to Nebraska at the Bricktown Ballpark.
?This was a game of missed opportunities,? A&M head coach Rob Childress said. ?It has been that way for us the last couple of weeks. On the other side of the coin, Nebraska had its opportunities to blow us out, but we pitched our way out of some potential big innings.?
A&M hitters went 2-for-14 with runners in scoring position and one of the two hits was an infield single that didn?™t plate a run.
With the loss, the Aggies dropped to 41-16, while Nebraska improved to 30-23. Prior to the current four-game losing streak, A&M had not lost more than two games in a row all season.
Nebraska jumped on top on the bottom of the first when Andy Gerch delivered a two-out RBI single off A&M starter Clayton Ehlert.
After the Huskers loaded the bases in the bottom of the third with one out, Matt Ueckert replaced Ehlert on the mound. Jake Opitz, the first man Ueckert faced, lifted a sacrifice to left to increase the Nebraska lead to 2-0.
Blake Stouffer lined a RBI single to left off Nebraska starter Tony Watson in the top of the fifth to cut the lead to 2-1. The single scored Feltner, who reached on a fielder?™s choice and stole second.
Nebraska got the run back in the bottom of the fifth with another sacrifice fly, this time by Gerch. The bases were loaded with no outs when reliever Gary Campfield entered. He was able to limit the damage to one run.
In the top of the sixth, Craig Stinson scored on a ground out by pinch hitter Josh Stinson to cut the lead to 3-2.
The third sacrifice fly of the game for Nebraska, this time by Craig Corriston in the bottom of the sixth, regained the two-run lead for Nebraska.
Craig Stinson drove in the Aggies?™ third run of the game in the top of the seventh with a sacrifice fly to cut the lead back to one run.
Nebraska made it a two-run game again in the eighth, when consecutive two-out balks by reliever Travis Starling brought DJ Belfonte around.
Nebraska reliever Matt Faust limited the Aggies to one run on four hits over the final 3 2/3 innings to earn his seventh save of the year.
Ehlert (1-1) lasted 2 1/3 innings and allowed two runs on four hits, while striking out three and walking one.
Watson (6-4) threw 5 1/3 innings and allowed two runs on seven hits.
The Aggies return to action Thursday when they play top-seeded and fifth-ranked Texas at 4:30 p.m.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Watson, T. (6-4)
L: Ehlert, Clayton (1-1)
S: Foust, M. (7)
Batting:
2B: Stouffer, Blake 1 ; Ruggiano, Brian 1
RBI: Stouffer, Blake 1 ; Stinson, Craig 1 ; Stinson, Josh 1
SH: Greene, Brodie 1
SF: Stinson, Craig 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Hicks, Brandon 1 ; Feltner, Ben 1 ; Stinson, Craig 1
SB: Feltner, Ben 1
CS: Colligan, Kyle 1
Batting:
RBI: Corriston, C 1 ; Gerch, A. 2 ; Opitz, J. 1
SH: Tezak, J. 1 ; Abeita, M. 1
SF: Corriston, C 1 ; Gerch, A. 1 ; Opitz, J. 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Belfonte, D. 2 ; Corriston, C 2 ; Nimmo, B. 1
HBP: Corriston, C 1 ; Gerch, A. 1
