March 17, 2008
No. 17 Texas A&M (15-4) closes out a 20-game, season-opening homestand on Tuesday when the Aggies host UT Arlington (6-12) at 6:30 p.m. at Olsen Field.
A&M enters the game fresh off a series victory over Texas Tech to open Big 12 play this past weekend. The Aggies have won 14 of their last 16 games.
UTA dropped two of three this weekend at home to Lamar in the Mavs' Southland Conference opener and has lost five of its last six contests.
Tuesday marks the first of two meetings this year between the schools, as Texas A&M will make a return trip to the Metroplex for its final non-conference game of the season on Tuesday, May 13.
Fans can listen to Friday's game locally on the flagship home of Texas A&M Athletics, News/Talk 1620 WTAW. Dave South, Scott Clendenin and Chuck Glenewinkel call the action all season long. All broadcasts begin 15 minutes prior to first pitch.
UT Arlington MAVERICKS (6-12) at #17 Texas A&M AGGIES (15-4)
Tuesday, March 18 - 6:30 p.m. CDT
C.E. ?Pat? Olsen Field (7,053) ?* College Station, Texas
RADIO: WTAW-AM 1620
LIVE VIDEO: Aggies All-Access (free)
GAMETRACKER: aggieathletics.com
PITCHING MATCHUP
A&M - Clayton Ehlert (So., RHP, 1-1, 2.79 ERA) vs. UTA ?- Marcus Limon (Fr., RHP, 0-2, 10.50 ERA)
TICKET INFO
RESERVED $11
ADULT GEN. ADMISSION $7
YOUTH GEN. ADMISSION $5
STUDENT GEN. ADMISSION $4
TICKET OFFICE (888) 99-AGGIE or (979) 845-2311
TICKET WEBSITE www.aggieathletics.com
PARKING INFORMATION
RESERVED PARKING 100i, 100j, 100k (Olsen)
GENERAL PARKING 100e, 100g (Reed)
MEDIA PARKING (PASS REQUIRED) 100i (Olsen)
for more information visit transport.tamu.edu.
For media parking info contact A&M Media Relations.
PROMOTIONS
Children 12 and under will receive free admission with a paid adult to the game through the ?Take Me Out to the Ballgame? ticket promotion. There is a limit of four kids per adult and all seats are general admission.
Throughout the season, fans can also take advantage of the "Pick Six for $50" ticket special. For more information contact the Athletic Ticket Office at 888-99-AGGIE or online at aggieathletics.com.
SCOUTING TEXAS A&M
Texas A&M is 15-4 overall and 2-1 in Big 12 play, and has won 14 of its last 16 games.
The Aggies have pounded out double-figure hits in eight of the last 12 games and hit five home runs last week. For the season, Texas A&M is hitting .312 and averaging 7.2 runs per game. The offense has already pounded out 60 extra-base hits (30 doubles, 14 triples and 16 home runs) while stealing 35 bases.
Senior third baseman Dane Carter (.467, 4 HR, 18 RBI) leads the team in nine offensive categories and has hit safely in 17 of the team's 19 games in 2008. Junior shortstop Jos?© Duran (.416, 2 HR, 20 RBI) leads the team in RBI and ranks second with six stolen bases. Three other starters (Luke Anders, Kyle Colligan and Brian Ruggiano) are hitting over .300 for the year.
On the mound, the Aggies boast a Big 12-best 2.88 ERA. A&M pitching is averaging 9.11 strikeouts per game and is holding opposing hitters to a .222 average. Sophomore Shane Minks (4-0, 2.53 ERA) leads the team and the league in victories, while sophomore Travis Starling (9 appearances, 1-0, 0.79 ERA) has a team-best five saves. The Aggie bullpen has been strong on the young season, posting a 6-2 record, five saves, 2.28 ERA and .216 opponent average.
A QUICK GLANCE: UT ARLINGTON
UT Arlington enters the game with a 6-12 overall record. The Mavericks, who are 1-2 in Southland Conference play, have lost five of their last six?-but do have a pair of wins over Alabama this season.
UTA returns five starters and 11 letterwinners from a 2007 team that went 13-40 and finished 4-26 in SLC play.
The Mavericks hit .282 as a team with five home runs and 109 RBI, and average 6.7 runs per game. The pitching staff sports a 5.75 ERA and has a 1.41 strikeout-to-walk ratio.
Senior outfielder Danny Slinkman (.444, 1 HR, 22 RBI) leads the UT Arlington offense in 10 categories, while freshman outfielder Michael Choice (.360, 1 HR, 10 RBI) is one of four other regular starters that is hitting over .310.
Darin Thomas is in his first season as the head coach of the Mavericks.
SERIES HISTORY
Texas A&M leads the all-time series with UT Arlington, 19-6, and has won nine of the last 12 meetings. The teams have met in each of the last seven seasons and will play twice this year, as the Aggies will head to the Metroplex on May 13.
A&M will play games this year against seven of the 12 Southland Conference baseball schools, including every one in the league's West Division with the exception of Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.
TEXAS TECH REVIEW
Texas A&M opened Big 12 play with a series victory over Texas Tech this past weekend at Olsen Field.
The Aggies used late-inning heroics to win Friday's game, 6-5, in 12 innings. Dane Carter ended the longest Big 12 contest in school history (4 hours, 32 minutes) with a two-out, walk-off shot to right in the 12th. Travis Starling earned the win in relief.
A&M then busted open a 1-1 game on Saturday with 11 runs in the fourth and fifth innings to cruise to a 12-1 victory. Freshman Barret Loux picked up his first career win on the mound.
Tech rebounded to take Sunday's game, 9-3, on the strength of six two-out runs. The Aggies, who were in an 8-0 hole, had chances to pull within striking distance but could not pull any closer than six runs. Scott Migl suffered the loss on the hill.
MORE ON FRIDAY'S WIN
Friday's 6-5, 12-inning win over Texas Tech was the longest in quite some time for the Aggie baseball team. The game lasted four hours, 32 minutes and ended at 11:07 p.m. local time.
Some notes on the victory...
?* The game was the longest Big 12 game (by time) in school history.
?* Overall, it was the longest game Texas A&M has played since a 19-14, 11-inning victory at Houston on March 27, 1993 (4 hours, 34 minutes).
?* The 12-inning victory matched a 7-5 loss to Kansas on April 1, 2005, as the longest conference game (by innings) in school history.
?* The longest game played by A&M in 2007 was a 10-9, 10-inning win over Rice on March 20 (4 hours, 31 minutes).
?* The game was the longest between the Aggies and Red Raiders since Big 12 play began in 1997, and the third to go extra innings. The teams went 10 innings on Feb. 28, 1998 and again on March 1, 2002?-both in College Station.
?* Dane Carter's walk-off home run was the first by an Aggie since Erik Scheidt?â„¢s 10th-inning solo shot against Kansas on May 9, 2003.
MID-WEEK MAGIC
The Aggie baseball team has won 18 straight mid-week non-conference contests, including the first six on the slate in 2008.
A&M won all 10 mid-week games last season and the final two of the 2006 campaign. The Aggies' last loss in mid-week action was on April 18, 2006, a 9-6 setback to No. 19 Houston at Olsen Field.
THE ROAD AWAITS
After Tuesday's game with UT Arlington, Texas A&M will embark on a seven-game road trip?-the Aggies' first, and longest, of the season.
A&M will play its first road contest of the year Friday night at Allie P. Reynolds Stadium in Stillwater against Oklahoma State. Following the series with the Cowboys, the Aggies will head to the Alamo City for a March 25 game with Texas-San Antonio, then battle Kansas three days later in a Big 12 series at Hoglund Ballpark in Lawrence.
OFF TO A GOOD START
The Aggies won their first Big 12 series of the season by taking the first two games this past weekend against Texas Tech.
It marked the eighth time in the league's 12 seasons that A&M won its first series of the year, and second straight under head coach Rob Childress.
CARTER ON A TEAR
Senior third baseman Dane Carter has started the 2008 season on a hot streak at the plate.
While his career-best 16-game hit streak was snapped on Sunday against Texas Tech, Carter has hit safely in 17 of the Aggies' 19 contests overall.
Despite not recording a hit on Sunday, Carter did draw a walk and has now reached base safely (hit or walk) in all 19 games of the year.
In addition, he leads the team in nine offensive categories: average (.467), runs (21), hits (35), triples (4), home runs (4), total bases (59), slugging percentage (.787), on-base percentage (.529) and stolen bases (7).
The only other game in which Carter did not record a hit was the first game of the doubleheader against Northern Colorado on Feb. 23, although he did walk and score a run.
CARTER, CONTINUED
After struggling with injury during 2007, Dane Carter has already bested his totals from last season through the first few weeks of 2008.
dane carter: 2007 vs 2008
CATEGORY 2007 TOTALS 2008 NUMBERS
games played 37 19
games started 19 19
batting average .203 .467
hits 15 35
runs scored 14 21
doubles 2 4
triples 0 4
home runs 1 4
RBI 11 18
slugging pct. .270 .787
TURNING THE CORNER
Senior DH/1B Darby Brown had a tough start to the 2008 campaign, beginning the year 2-for-23 at the plate (.087 average).
With a mammoth home run off the top of the batter's eye in center field against Nicholls State on March 5, Brown has turned the corner in a big way, hitting .394 over the last nine contests...
brown's turnaround
CATEGORY FIRST 10 GAMES LAST 9 GAMES
batting average .087 .394
hits-at bats 2-for-23 13-for-33
home runs 0 3
RBI 3 8
slugging pct. .174 .727
runs scored 5 7
DURAN STEPS UP
The Aggies knew entering 2008 that they would have to replace all-conference selection and third-round draft pick Brandon Hicks (.338, 10 HR, 59 RBI) at shortstop.
After a strong battle in the offseason, junior transfer Jos?© Duran won the opening-day nod, and has not disappointed. The Fort Worth native is near the top of the A&M offensive charts in nearly every category.
A comparison between Hicks and Duran, through the first 19 games of their respective seasons:
duran vs. hicks (through 19 games)
CATEGORY HICKS-2007 DURAN-2008
batting average .324 .416
hits 22 32
runs scored 26 17
doubles 8 4
triples 0 4
home runs 1 2
RBI 16 20
slugging pct. .485 .649
walks 17 9
stolen bases 13 7
LEGGING IT OUT
Texas A&M has hit 14 triples over the first 19 games of the season. A closer look at this accomplishment:
?* Last season's team hit 20 triples in 67 games. If the '08 Aggies were to keep up their current pace they would finish the regular season with 41.
?* The Aggies set a school record in late February with three triples in each of three consecutive games (McNeese State, Ohio State, Arkansas). What makes this feat even more impressive is that the last time a Texas A&M team had three triples in ANY game before last week was on April 11, 1999, when the Aggies defeated Kansas State 7-2 in St. Joseph, Mo.?-a stretch of 519 games.
?* Senior third baseman Dane Carter had two triples in the Feb. 26 win over McNeese State, the first time an Aggie had two triples in one game since Chad Hudson on May 21, 1999 in a 10-3 win over Oklahoma in the Big 12 Tournament in Oklahoma City.
?* Carter, along with Jos?© Duran, has four triples on the season, just five shy of the single-season school record (9, Brian Thomas, 1993).
FLIPPING THE POWER SWITCH
The Aggies have hit 16 home runs on the young season, and most of that power punch has come recently.
Over the first seven games, Texas A&M hit a total of two home runs, or an average of 0.3 per game. In the last 12, the Aggies have totaled 14?-1.2 per contest.
Eight different players have hit home runs in 2008, led by Dane Carter (4) and Darby Brown (3).
TURN, TURN, TURN...TURN
Texas A&M tied a school record with four double plays in the Feb. 27 win over Nicholls State.
While the feat has been accomplished often, the last time the Aggies did turn four double plays in one game was against Clemson in the NCAA Super Regional championship on June 6, 1999 (499 games ago).
A STRONG PEN
The Texas A&M bullpen has been very impressive in the first part of the season.
A total of 13 Aggies have seen action in relief, posting a combined 2.28 ERA and picking up six wins and five saves. In 75 innings of work, opposing teams have managed just 58 hits (.216 average) and 19 earned runs while striking out 77 times.
Of the players that have made more than one appearance out of the pen this year, seven are holding opponents to an average of .200 or less in those outings.
POUNDING THE ZONE
Texas A&M pitchers have struck out 173 batters while walking 71 in their 172 innings of work thus far, or a 2.4 K/BB ratio. In 2007, A&M's pitching corps posted a 2.1 K/BB mark for the full season.
The Aggie staff, which has fanned eight or more batters in 16 of the 19 games in 2008, is averaging 9.11 strikeouts per nine innings.
It's not just one or two arms that are carrying the strikeout load, however. Seven players have posted 15 or more Ks this spring, led by freshman Brooks Raley with 23.
A LONG TIME COMING
A pair of Aggie pitchers completed the long road back from shoulder injuries this spring to step back on the mound at Olsen Field.
Senior right-hander Blake Rampy tossed 2 innings on Feb. 26 against McNeese State, allowing three hits and one earned run.
While that might not sound like a big deal, it is for Rampy?-his last outing prior to then was on April 26, 2005, a span of 1,037 days.
Junior Jordan Chambless struck out the only batter he faced in the eighth inning of the March 4 win over Nicholls State--three days before his 23rd birthday. It was his first action since Feb. 27, 2007.
RALEY NAMED BIG 12 CO-PITCHER OF THE WEEK
Freshman Brooks Raley (Uvalde, Texas) was named the Phillips 66 Big 12 Co-Pitcher of the Week on March 10 by a select media panel.
Raley struck out 10 over 7 innings of shutout baseball in his first career start to lead the Aggies to a 2-1 win over defending Big East champ Rutgers on March 8. He faced four batters over the minimum on the night, and allowed just two baserunners into scoring position?-stranding both. The lefty allowed only eight balls to leave the infield on the night?-the three hits and five fly ball outs.
He became the 16th pitcher in A&M history to earn the award.
AGGIES CLAIM 12th DOMINO's PIZZA CLASSIC TITLE
Texas A&M won the Domino's Pizza Aggie Baseball Classic championship at Olsen Field in early March with wins over Ohio State (8-5), Arkansas (15-7) and Louisiana Tech (7-4).
The tournament championship was A&M's 12th in the 16-year history of the event, and the undefeated run marked just the second time the Aggies won every game in the tournament (1989).
Two of the victories?-Ohio State and Arkansas?-were of the come-from-behind variety.
As a team, A&M hit at a .353 clip, smashing four doubles, four triples and five home runs while scoring 30 runs. The Aggie pitching staff allowed 27 hits in 27 innings of work, struck out 25 and held opponents to a .248 batting average.
DURAN NAMED DPC MVP
Junior shortstop Jos?© Duran?™s took home the Domino's Pizza Aggie Baseball Classic Most Valuable Player award.
The junior finished the weekend hitting .538 with seven hits and four runs scored, along with a home run and a pair of RBI.
Duran not only stood out at the plate but in the field as well, as he was perfect in 13 chances during the three games. Included in those chances was a diving catch in foul territory against Louisiana Tech and multiple flashy defensive plays at shortstop.
FIVE AGGIES EARN ALL-TOURNAMENT HONORS
Shortstop Jos?© Duran, first baseman Luke Anders, center fielder Kyle Colligan, and pitchers Travis Starling and Kyle Thebeau earned Domino's Pizza Classic all-tournament honors.
Duran hit .538 (7-13) with a home run, 2 RBI and four runs scored while swiping two bases and was named the Most Valuable Player.
Anders, a junior from College Station, hit .625 (5-8) while driving in three. He was walked four times, hit twice and scored five runs.
Colligan, a junior from Houston, hit .462 (6-13) and also scored five runs to go along with a double, home run and 3 RBI.
Thebeau got the win in the Feb. 29 game against Ohio State. With the Aggies down 5-1, the junior from Corpus Christi came out of the pen and tossed six shutout innings. He allowed five hits while walking one and fanning five.
Starling picked up a pair of saves, closing out the Ohio State and Louisiana Tech victories. He faced eight batters?-retiring all of them?-while not allowing a baserunner and fanning three.
AGGIES ON THE TUBE
No stranger to national exposure, the Texas A&M baseball team will appear on television at least seven times in 2008.
The Aggies have won their first three televised games of the year, all on COX Sports Television.
FOX College Sports, available on digital cable outlets across the country, will broadcast the April 13 series finale with Oklahoma and the May 16 series opener at Texas.
In addition, FOX Sports Net will broadcast the April 27 series finale against Missouri live from Olsen Field and CSTV will air the May 10 game between A&M and Nebraska in Lincoln.
As always, fans can get complete and up-to-date television broadcast information on aggieathletics.com.
AGGIES ON THE 'NET
For the sixth straight season, AggieAthletics.com will bring fans around the globe live video of Texas A&M baseball.
Fans will be able to watch, free of charge, all non-televised Aggie home games, along with selected road games, through the new Aggies All-Access.
If live video of an A&M game is not available, free live audio will be provided through All-Access.
The highly-popular Aggies All-Access is in its second season of bringing live game action, television shows, highlights and much more to A&M fans around the world. Aggies All-Access is the most-watched channel on the CSTV.com network.
AGGIES PEGGED FOURTH IN BIG 12 PRESEASON POLL
Texas A&M was picked to finish fourth in the 2008 Big 12 baseball race according to a vote of the league?â„¢s head coaches.
Defending regular-season champion Texas (80 points) was pegged the league favorite for the seventh straight year and received eight of the possible 10 first-place votes. The Longhorns edged out second-place Missouri, which earned 71 points, including one first-place tally. Baylor, who also claimed a first-place vote, was ranked third followed by A&M, Oklahoma State and Nebraska. Filling the remaining spots in the preseason poll were Kansas State, Oklahoma, Kansas and Texas Tech.