(#9) Rice 2, (#1) Texas A&M 0

Saturday, February 28

Houston, Texas

8:35 PM

Texas A&M

6-2

Rice

4-2

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
Rice	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	2	4	0
Texas A&M	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0

Feb 28, 2009 | Baseball

Box Score

By: Texas A&M Athletics

Feb. 28, 2009

Final Stats

Post Game Audio [mp3]:
Head Coach Childress

HOUSTON - Rice pitcher Ryan Berry tossed a complete-game, two-hit shutout to lead the ninth-ranked Owls to a 2-0 win over the top-ranked Texas A&M baseball team Saturday night before 13,928 fans in the Houston College Classic at Minute Maid Park.

The Aggies (6-2) fell despite a strong start from junior Alex Wilson, who allowed three hits and fanned seven in six innings of work.

Rice (4-2) took the early lead with a run in the first. With one out, Chad Mozingo tripled to deep center field, and scored three pitches later on a wild pitch by Wilson.

The Owls added a run in the fourth. With one out, Wilson (1-1) hit shortstop Rick Hague with a full-count offering. One out later, center fielder Steven Sultzbaugh lined a 3-0 pitch to right field and past the diving Brodie Greene. The ball rolled to the warning track, scoring Hague from first to make the score 2-0. Rice would load the bases on back-to-back walks, but Wilson got the final batter of the inning, second baseman Brock Holt, to ground out to first to end the threat.

Berry (1-0) carried a no-hitter into the sixth inning before Brodie Greene led off the frame with a single to left. He fanned 12 on the night and did not walk a batter, throwing 102 pitches. A&M's other hit came on a line-drive double by Brooks Raley in the ninth.

A&M true freshmen Estevan Uriegas and Denny Clement were impressive in relief, allowing one hit and fanning three over three shutout innings. The Aggie pitching staff held the Owls to four hits and struck out 10 on the night.

Texas A&M concludes play in the Houston College Classic Sunday at 6 p.m. when the Aggies face Houston (2-5). A&M will send Houston native and sophomore Barret Loux (0-0, 5.06 ERA) to the hill to face Cougar junior Frank Corolla (0-0, 0.00). The game will air locally on WTAW-AM 1620 and fans inside Minute Maid Park can listen on the low end of the FM dial.

POSTGAME NOTES

• Texas A&M is now 8-6 all-time at Minute Maid Park and in the Houston College Classic. • A&M now leads the all-time series with Rice, 175-92-2 ...the Aggies are 2-3 all-time against the Owls in the Houston College Classic. • The shutout ended a streak of 156 consecutive games in which A&M had scored a run, the second longest of its kind in school history...the last time the Aggies were kept off the scoreboard was April 15, 2006 at Nebraska. • A&M's Caleb Shofner (seven games), Dylan Petrich (five games) and Nick Anders (five games) all saw hit streaks come to an end. • Game-time temperature inside Minute Maid Park (roof closed for game) was 62 degrees.

POSTGAME QUOTES

A&M COACH Rob Childress: (on the performance on Ryan Berry) "That was a pretty darn good performance. He was very efficient. We had weak outs early in the game and he took advantage of that. It was a pitcher's duel, they score first and he was able to relax a little bit and we never did answer. We finally had an opportunity in the ninth but we didn't do it. In the sixth we had a runner at second with no outs, and then we struck out three times looking. You're not going to have many chances against a guy like Berry, and tonight we didn't take advantage of the two we did have."

(on the performance of the Aggie pitching staff) "Willy had a good start. The fourth inning was the one that really hurt him, and it wasn't the fact that they scored a run on him. It's the fact that he walked two guys and they took 34 pitches from him. That was the difference. Our two freshmen did an outstanding job and gave us a chance to stay in the game. That's good to see in about as pressure-packed a situation as those two have been in in their careers. I thought our guys competed well out there tonight."

(on tomorrow's game) "Houston has a good club, a young club that is very talented. They're in dire need of a win and so are we. We need to finish the week off the right way. They'll be ready to go, and so will we. It ought to be a good game."

P Alex Wilson: (on his night) "I thought I pitched pretty well. I didn't think I had my best stuff today, I was just able to fight my way through. I guess you could say I was effectively wild, but it was just one of those days where the ball didn't bounce our way. We could never get anything going against him (Ryan Berry). He did a really good job tonight."

RF Brodie Greene: (on Ryan Berry) "I think tonight he worked quick, worked his game. We didn't take our time and change his game. He worked quick and pounded the zone. We tried to attack him early in the count, but we ended up making weak outs early. And when we did hit the ball hard we hit it right at them."

(on his diving effort on the fourth-inning triple) "I was playing deeper than normal, and I felt like I had a good read on it. Nine times out of 10 I'm going to make that catch, but if I'm going all out like that I need to put a glove on it at least."