Texas A&M
TCU
(#15) Texas A&M 4, (#15) TCU 3
Apr 28, 2009 | Baseball
April 28, 2009
COLLEGE STATION, Texas - Joe Patterson delivered a two-out RBI single in the bottom of the 10th inning to lift 15th-ranked Texas A&M to a 4-3 win over No. 15 TCU in 10 innings Tuesday night before 3,507 fans at Olsen Field.
With one out in the 10th, Luke Anders drew a four-pitch walk. Following a pitching change and a pop out, Kevin Gonzalez walked as well to move anders into scoring position. Patterson then lined the first pitch from Horned Frog reliever Kaleb Merck back through the box and past the diving second baseman, scoring Anders with the game winner.
Anders gave A&M (29-15) a chance to pull off the extra-inning win in the eighth, delivering a line-drive solo home run to right center that erased a one-run TCU lead. Aggie reliever Nick Fleece then quelched a TCU rally in the ninth inning when, after allowing a one-out double, got a pair of fly-ball outs to push the game to the last of the ninth.
Each team got a runner on in its next at bat courtesy a walk, but both innings ended on a foiled stolen base attempt at second.
Texas A&M won its third straight and improved to 7-1 on the current homestand, while TCU (27-13) lost for just the third time in the last three weeks.
Adam Smith put the Aggies on the board in the third with his eighth dinger of the year, a long one-out home run over the scoreboard in left center.
The Frogs threatened in the top half of the fourth, but Aggie starter Clayton Ehlert kept them off the board with some clutch pitching. A double, hit batsman and sacrifice put two in scoring position with one out. Following an intentional walk that loaded the bases, Ehlert got Aaron Schultz to foul out behind home plate and Corey Steglich to hit a slow chopper back to the mound to get out of the frame unscathed.
Anders led off the fourth with a single through the right side and moved to third on a double to deep left center off the bat of the next batter, Kyle Colligan. Following a pitching change, Gonzalez doubled the lead with an RBI groundout to short.
TCU cleanup hitter Chris Ellington tied the game in the fifth with a two-run double to left center. One batter later, Bryan Holaday chopped one over the drawn-in infield and into left to give the Frogs their first lead of the night, 3-2. The score would remain the same until Anders' game-tying blast in the eighth.
Fleece earned the victory in relief with a strong two innings of work. He allowed just one hit and one walk in improving to 4-1 on the year.
Walker Kelly (1-2) suffered the loss, after the only batter he faced--Anders, who drew a walk--scored the game-winner.
Ehlert allowed seven hits and three runs (all earned) over 4.2 innings of work, while walking two and striking out one. Kyle Thebeau was brilliant in relief for A&M, giving up just two hits in 3.1 shutout innings of work. He walked one and punched out a season-high five.
TCU starter Kyle Winkler did not factor in the decision, lasting three innings and giving up four hits, two runs and one walk while fanning one.
Anders, Smith and Brodie Greene all had two hits on the night for the Aggies, while TCU shortstop Taylor Featherston went a game-high 3-for-5.
Texas A&M returns to action Thursday when the Aggies open a three-game series with Dallas Baptist at Olsen Field. Sophomore Brooks Raley (7-1, 1.92 ERA) will face off against DBU junior Victor Black (6-2, 3.11). First pitch is set for 6:35 p.m.
POSTGAME NOTES
• Tuesday marked A&M's second extra-inning game of the year...the Aggies dropped a 10-inning decision at Baylor on March 16...the last extra-inning contest at Olsen Field prior to Tuesday was also a 10-inning victory, on April 27, 2008 over Missouri.
• Texas A&M now leads the all-time series with TCU, 159-85-4, and has won the last nine meetings.
• The Aggies improved to 23-7 at home in '09 and 7-1 on the current homestand, with six games at Olsen remaining in the regular season (five on the current stand)...A&M is also 8-1 in its last nine games (.344 average, 2.81 ERA, .985 fielding percentage, .225 opponent average).
• Luke Anders extended his hit streak to a season-high 10 games with a fourth-inning single...Anders' 8th-inning home run was the 36th of his career, tying him with teammate Kyle Colligan for fifth on the school's all-time chart.
• Joe Patterson game-winning single extended his hit streak to a season-high six games...it also marked Patterson's second game-winning RBI of the year (2-run double in the eighth at Kansas State on April 10).
• Game-time temperature was 79 degrees with cloudy skies and winds blowing out to left at 11 (gusting to 25).
POSTGAME QUOTES
HEAD COACH Clayton Ehlert gave us a strong start, and got us into the fifth inning. Getting out of that bases loaded, one-out jam in the fourth was incredible. Kyle Thebeau and Nick Fleece were as good as they can possibly be."
(on Patterson's game winner) "Joe had two at-bats before the 10th with runners in scoring position, and his anxiety level was through the roof, with two three-pitch strikeouts. He got up there, and the guy wanted to get ahead, and Joe just put a good swing on it. I'm happy for Joe."
(on beating TCU) "It was a big win for us from an RPI standpoint. It's going to be what they talk about five weeks from now. When you start talking about the teams in the state of Texas who are trying to earn an opportunity to host, TCU's definitely one of them. Obviously Rice is a lock down at this point, but then you've got Texas, Baylor us and TCU all fighting for the other hopefully two spots, if we're lucky, in the state of Texas. That was a huge win for us down the stretch."
JUNIOR DH Joe Patterson: "I had a big talk with Coach Talbot in the dugout, and he told me to just calm down. Sometimes I get too fired up and start chasing bad pitches, which has really been an issue for me. That time he gave me a good pitch to hit, and I was just trying for a base hit. I wasn't trying to do too much that time."
(on getting the win) "That was a great feeling to get that win. That was a big one for us from an RPI standpoint. It just felt really good to get it in that fashion."
