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No. 19 Aggies Ready for Big 12 Championship

The 19th-ranked Texas A&M baseball team begins its postseason this week when the Aggies participate in the 13th-annual Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship at AT&T Bricktown Ballpark in downtown Oklahoma C

May 18, 2009

OKLAHOMA CITY - The 19th-ranked Texas A&M baseball team begins its postseason this week when the Aggies participate in the 13th-annual Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship at AT&T Bricktown Ballpark in downtown Oklahoma City.

A&M (34-21) is the No. 6 seed in the eight-team field, which is separated into two four-team pools. The Aggies will open play on Wednesday at 4 p.m. against No. 3-seed Missouri (32-23), have a day off on Thursday and conclude play with games Friday and Saturday evening against No. 2-seed Oklahoma (40-16) and No. 7-seed Texas Tech (24-30), respectively.

Should Texas A&M win the pool, it would play for the tournament championship and the Big 12's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament on Sunday at 1 p.m.

The Aggies are taking part in the event for the 11th time, having won the title in 2007 and falling in the championship game in 1998 and 2001.

Fans can listen to all the action on WTAW-AM 1620. Free live audio of the games will be available worldwide on aggieathletics.com and radioaggieland.com.

In addition, big12sports.com will provide free video of all games of the championship, while the league's audio feed will air on Sirius XM Radio (Sirius 214/XM 231).

GAMES 56-59
#19 TEXAS A&M AGGIES (34-21) at PHILLIPS 66 BIG 12 CHAMPIONSHIP

vs #23 MISSOURI TIGERS (32-23) • Wednesday, May 20 • 4:00 PM
vs #8 OKLAHOMA SOONERS (40-16) • Friday, May 22 • 7:30 PM
vs TEXAS TECH RED RAIDERS (24-30) • Saturday, May 23 • 7:30 PM

AT&T Bricktown Ballpark (13,066) • Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

Television: FSN (championship game only)
Radio: WTAW-AM 1620 (A&M broadcast) / Sirius XM (Big 12 feed)
Gametracker: aggieathletics.com
Free Live Video: big12sports.com
Free Live Audio: aggieathletics.com/radioaggieland.com

PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUPS

WEDNESDAY (vs Missouri): #13 Clayton Ehlert (Jr., RHP, 5-0, 5.95) vs #44 Kyle Gibson (Jr., RHP, 9-3, 3.69)

FRIDAY (vs OU): #30 Brooks Raley (So., LHP, 7-2, 3.09) vs #14 Andrew Doyle (Jr., RHP, 7-4, 4.28)

SATURDAY (vs Texas Tech): #28 Ross Hales (Fr., LHP, 5-2, 3.90) vs TBA

TICKET INFO

Tournament passes and single-session tickets can be purchased either at the gate or in advance through the Oklahoma City All-Sports Association.

For information or to buy tickets, call (405) 218-1000 or visit okcallsports.org.

CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE

WEDNESDAY, MAY 20
9:00 AM (4) Kansas State vs (5) Kansas
12:30 PM (1) Texas vs (8) Baylor
4:00 PM (3) Missouri vs (6) Texas A&M
7:30 PM (2) Oklahoma vs (7) Texas Tech

THURSDAY, MAY 21
3:00 PM (1) Texas vs (5) Kansas
7:30 PM (4) Kansas State vs (8) Baylor

FRIDAY, MAY 22
3:00 PM (3) Missouri vs (7) Texas Tech
7:30 PM (2) Oklahoma vs (6) Texas A&M

SATURDAY, MAY 23
9:00 AM (5) Kansas vs (8) Baylor
12:30 PM (1) Texas vs (4) Kansas State
4:00 PM (2) Oklahoma vs (3) Missouri
7:30 PM (6) Texas A&M vs (7) Texas Tech

SUNDAY, MAY 24
1:00 PM Championship Game (FSN)

A&M SNAPSHOT

'09 Record: 34-21, 14-13 Big 12 (6th)
Streak: Lost 3
Last 5/10: 1-4/4-6
Rankings: #19 (NCBWA), #22 (USAT)
Head Coach: Rob Childress, 4th year
at A&M: 153-89-1 (.632)
Overall: 153-89-1 (.632)
at Big 12 Tourney: 4-3
On the Web: aggieathletics.com

BIG 12 TOURNEY HISTORY

  • A&M will be playing in the Big 12 Championship for the 11th time in the event's 13-year history...the only two years the Aggies did not qualify were in 2005 and 2006.
  • The Aggies are 16-18 all-time at the Big 12 Championship...A&M won the title in 2007 and finished as runners-up in 1998 and 2001.
  • The Aggies are 14-12 all-time at AT&T Bricktown Ballpark.
  • 2009 marks the second time A&M has been the No. 6 seed...in 2001, the Aggies went unbeaten through the bracket as the sixth seed before falling in the title game to No. 1-seed Nebraska.
  • The No. 6 seed is unbeaten in its last five tournament openers (2004-08).
  • A&M was 1-2 in last year's tourney as the No. 1 seed, falling to Oklahoma and Texas and defeating Missouri.
  • A detailed history of the Aggies' Big 12 Tourney results, including line scores, school championship records, seeding history and much more can be found on pages 15-19.

    A&M vs THE FIELD

  • The Aggies are a combined 2-7 against the other three teams in their pool (Missouri, Oklahoma Texas Tech) in 2009...A&M played all three on the road and dropped all three series...five of the nine games in those series, however, were one-run games (A&M went 1-4).
  • Texas A&M is a combined 9-12 in '09 against the entire field.
  • All-time Big 12 Tourney matchups against the field, including line scores, can be found on pages 15-17.
  • Texas A&M's series history against this year's field can be found on pages 5-7.
  • Texas A&M's 2009 stats by opponent, and boxscores from this year's games, can be found on pages 8-14.

    TEAM NOTES

  • A&M averages 6.8 runs per contest and has totaled 79 home runs, 339 RBIs and 70 stolen bases.
  • A&M went 10-3 on its season-long 13-game homestand that wrapped up on May 8...the Aggies finished the regular season 27-9 at Olsen Field.
  • A&M finished 10-2 at home in Big 12 play this year.
  • Texas A&M ranks seventh nationally in strikeouts per nine innings (9.6), 12th nationally in fewest walks per nine innings (2.7) and 13th nationally in fewest hits allowed per nine (8.61).
  • Texas A&M ranks fifth in the league in batting average and second in ERA.
  • A&M finished second in the league in fielding percentage in conference games (.979) and ranks fourth for the entire season (.972).
  • A&M put together a string of 263 straight chances without an error from April 9-22.
  • The Aggie pitching staff leads the league in strikeouts (515) and K/BB ratio (3.5)...A&M also ranks second in opponent batting average (.254).
  • The Aggies' 515 strikeouts are 21 shy of the school record (536 set in 1991 and 1999).
  • Aggie pitching has struck out eight or more batters in 40 of 55 games (73%) in '09, and 10 or more in 27 (49%)...the season high is 17 (Wright State, Feb. 21).
  • The Aggies have come from behind in 20 of their 34 wins this year.
  • Nine of A&M's 13 Big 12 losses this year have been by two runs or less.
  • Since the start of the 2007 season, A&M is 95-26 (.785) at Olsen Field...the Aggies are also 34-9 (.791) in that time in mid-week contests (Tuesday and Wednesday games).
  • A&M is 4-1 this season against top-five opponents...the Aggies have defeated UC Irvine (No. 5), Baylor twice (No. 5) and Rice (No. 1), while falling to Cal State Fullerton (No. 4)...A&M is 9-6 overall against ranked opponents.

    UP NEXT

    The field of 64 will be announced by the NCAA on Monday, May 25 at 11:30 a.m. (CT) live on ESPN.

    The selection committee will announce the 16 regional host sites on the afternoon of Sunday, May 24.

    NCAA Regional play is scheduled for May 29-June 1, Super Regionals for June 5-8 and the College World Series for June 13-24.