May 20, 2008
Fresh off capturing the program's third Big 12 regular-season title, Texas A&M baseball team begins postseason play this week when the Aggies head to Oklahoma City and AT&T Bricktown Ballpark for the 2008 Phillips 66 Big 12 Baseball Championship.
A&M will be the No. 1 seed in the eight-team, pool-play format and will open action on Wednesday at 12:30 p.m. against No. 8-seed Oklahoma. The Aggies will face No. 5-seed Texas on Thursday at 4 p.m. and No. 4-seed Missouri on Saturday at 12:30 p.m.
The two teams that advance out of pool play will meet in the championship game on Sunday at 1 p.m.
The Aggies will be making their 10th appearance at the championship, and their third as the No. 1 overall seed. A&M was the top seed in both 1998 and 1999.
Fans can listen to every pitch 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.
In addition, the Big 12 Conference will be providing free live video and XM Satellite Radio coverage of every pitch of the championship. Visit www.big12sports.com for more information.
Texas A&M AGGIES (42-14)
at
Phillips 66 Big 12 Baseball Championship
Wednesday, May 21 vs. Oklahoma 12:30 p.m. CDT
Thursday, May 22 vs. Texas 4 p.m. CDT
Saturday, May 24 vs. Missouri 12:30 p.m. CDT
AT&T Bricktown Ballpark (13,066) ?* Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
FREE LIVE VIDEO big12sports.com and Aggies All-Access
RADIO WTAW-AM 1620
SATELLITE RADIO XM Radio (Big 12 feed/all games)
GAMETRACKER big12sports.com and aggieathletics.com
wednesday, may 21
No. 4 Missouri vs No. 5 Texas 9:00 AM
No. 1 Texas A&M vs No. 8 Oklahoma 12:30 PM
No. 3 Nebraska vs No. 6 Baylor 4:00 PM
No. 2 Oklahoma State vs No. 7 Kansas State 7:30 PM
thursday, may 22
No. 1 Texas A&M vs No. 5 Texas 4:00 PM
No. 4 Missouri vs No. 8 Oklahoma 7:30 PM
friday, may 23
No. 3 Nebraska vs No. 7 Kansas State 4:00 PM
No. 2 Oklahoma State vs No. 6 Baylor 7:30 PM
saturday, may 24
No. 5 Texas vs No. 8 Oklahoma 9:00 AM
No. 1 Texas A&M vs No. 4 Missouri 12:30 PM
No. 2 Oklahoma State vs No. 3 Nebraska 4:00 PM
No. 6 Baylor vs No. 7 Kansas State 7:30 PM
sunday, may 25
Division 1 champ vs Division 2 champ (FSN) 1:00 PM
all times Central.
for ticket information visit www.big12sports.com.
LEADING OFF...
?* Texas A&M has won its third Big 12 championship and fourth Big 12 title overall?...along with ?â„¢08, A&M captured regular-season crowns in both 1998 and 1999, along with the postseason tournament championship in 2007.
?* The conference championship is the Aggies?â„¢ 21st overall and 18th of the regular-season variety?...A&M won 15 Southwest Conference crowns and two SWC tourney titles.
?* At 42-14, the Aggies posted their best regular-season record since 1999 (44-12)?...A&M was 41-15 at the end of the regular season in both 2003 and 2007.
?* The 19 Big 12 wins tied for the most ever by an A&M team since the league adopted the 27-game format in 2002?...the ?â„¢03 Aggies also finished the year at 19-8?...the 19 wins are also tied for third most in school history behind the 1999 (23-6) and 1998 (21-9) squads.
?* Texas A&M set a new school and league record with 16 consecutive Big 12 wins (March 28-May 9).
?* A&M swept five consecutive conference series (Kansas, Kansas State, Oklahoma, Baylor, Missouri) for the first time in school history.
?* A&M became the 17th team in school history to win 40 games in a season, and the fastest to do so in NCAA Division I baseball in ?â„¢08.
?* At 40-8, the 2008 Aggies became the fourth-fastest to reach 40 victories in school history (48 games), trailing the 1989 (41), 1993 (46) and 1988 (46) squads.
?* A&M is 11-6 away from home this year, which included the school's first 10-game road win streak since 1989.
?* The 2008 squad became just the 12th in school history to reach the 60-home run mark (currently 64)...the '08 Aggies also became the 16th in program history to score 400 or more runs in a campaign (currently 435).
?* A&M pitching has fanned eight or more batters in 35 of 56 games (63 percent).
?* The Aggie bullpen is 20-6 on the year with 13 saves and a 3.55 ERA, and is holding opponents to a .251 average.
?* The Aggies have played in front of two stadium-record crowds in 2008?-April 29 at TCU's Lupton Stadium (4,294) and May 6 at Sam Houston's Don Sanders Stadium (1,812).
?* A&M has won 26 of its last 28 mid-week contests...an April 15 loss to Rice snapped a string of 23 consecutive mid-week victories dating back to April, 2006.
?* A&M is 5-3 against ranked opponents in 2008.
?* Of A&M's 14 losses on the season, 10 have been by three runs or less and six by two or fewer runs.
TEXAS A&M AT THEBIG 12 CHAMPIONSHIP
Texas A&M is making its 10th appearance all-time at the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship and its second in a row. The only two seasons in which the Aggies did not qualify for the event were in 2005 and 2006.
?* Texas A&M is this year's defending champion...the Aggies downed Baylor, 14-6, in the 2007 title game.
?* A&M sports an all-time record of 15-16 at the championship, and a 13-10 all-time mark at Bricktown Ballpark...last season's title was the first and only one for Texas A&M at the event.
?* The Aggies will be the No. 1 seed for the third time...Texas A&M was also the top seed in 1998 and 1999.
?* A&M's two most common oppponents at the event, Texas (eight times) and Oklahoma (seven times), are in the Aggies' bracket this season...on the other side of the coin, A&M and Missouri will meet for the first time at the championship this year.
?* For Texas A&M's complete history at the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship, including boxscores of last season's title run, please visit Section B of this guide.
TITLE TALK
?* Texas A&M's Big 12 regular-season championship was the third for the Aggie baseball program...only Texas (four) has won more regular-season titles than the Aggies...Nebraska has also claimed three.
?* Including the 2007 Big 12 postseason title, A&M has won four league crowns since the formation of the conference in 1997.
?* The Aggies finished the year at 19-8, one game ahead of second-place Oklahoma State. En route to the championship, A&M swept five straight opponents (Kansas, Kansas State, Oklahoma, Baylor, Missouri), while taking the series from Texas Tech. The Aggies dropped conference match-ups with OSU, Nebraska and Texas.
?* A&M's amazing 16-game conference win streak set a new league record, while besting the school's previous high streak (12, set in 1971 and 1974) by four games.
?* Texas A&M joined Nebraska (2001) and Texas (2002 and 2006) as the only schools to win both the baseball and softball Big 12 regular-season championships in the same year.
?* In total, Texas A&M has set a new school record by claiming eight Big 12 championships during the 2007-08 academic year, with one left to chase (baseball postseason)...the previous high was seven during the 2006-07 season.
A&M's 2007-08 big 12 championships
Women's Soccer Softball
Women's Swimming & Diving Softball (postseason)
Women's Indoor T&F Women's Outdoor T&F
Women's Basketball (postseason) Baseball
SCOUTING TEXAS A&M
Texas A&M enters the Big 12 Championship as the league champion and No. 1 overall seed. The Aggies feature an overall record of 42-14 and finished the conference race atop the standings at 19-8.
A&M is hitting .318 on the year and averages 7.8 runs per game. The offense has pounded out 195 extra-base hits (104 2B, 27 3B and 64 HR) while stealing 79 bases.
Junior shortstop Jos?© Duran (.397, 5 HR, 61 RBI) has hit safely in 25 of his last 26 games and leads the squad in hits and runs batted in. Senior third baseman Dane Carter (.383, 8 HR, 58 RBI) leads the country in triples (8). Junior first baseman Luke Anders (.348, 13 HR, 50 RBI) leads the team in home runs, while senior Darby Brown (.337, 9 HR, 55 RBI) is third on the squad in RBI. Two other starters (Kyle Colligan and Brian Ruggiano) are hitting over .310 for the year.
On the mound, the Aggies boast a 3.95 ERA, third-best in the Big 12. A&M pitching is averaging 8.03 strikeouts per nine innings and is holding opposing hitters to a .257 average. Junior Kyle Thebeau (5-4, 3 saves) leads the team and ranks second in the league with a 1.87 ERA, while sophomore Travis Starling (24 appearances, 8-0, 3.40 ERA) leads the squad in victories and has a team-best nine saves. Weekend starters Brooks Raley, Barret Loux and Clayton Ehlert have combined for a 16-5 record and 3.89 ERA. The Aggie bullpen has been strong on the season, posting a 20-6 record, 13 saves, 3.55 ERA and .251 opponent average.