(#15) Texas A&M 4, Dallas Baptist 3

Thursday, April 30

College Station

6:35 PM

Texas A&M

30-15

Dallas Baptist

31-12

Dallas Baptist

Texas A&M

Apr 30, 2009 | Baseball

Box Score

By: Texas A&M Athletics

April 30, 2009

Post Game Audio:
Head Coach Childress
LHP Raley
INF/OF Greene

Final Stats

COLLEGE STATION, Texas - Brodie Greene's walk-off single with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth inning capped a late rally and lifted No. 15 Texas A&M to a 4-3 win over Dallas Baptist Thursday night before 2,922 fans at Olsen Field.

With the score tied at three, Greene stepped to the plate to face Patriot closer Chris Haney with no outs after a walk, throwing error on a sacrifice attempt and intentional walk filled the bases. Greene took a called strike, then fouled off the next two pitches before lining the ball into the left-center field gap for the game winner.

The Aggies (30-15) scored single runs in each of the last three frames to pick up their fourth straight win and second in a row in walk-off fashion. The Patriots (31-12) saw a nine-game win streak come to an end.

A quick first-inning run gave Texas A&M the early lead. With one out, Brooks Raley tripled to the fence in right center field, and came home on a sacrifice fly to center by Luke Anders. It would be A&M's only hit off DBU starter Victor Black, however, until the seventh.

Dallas Baptist answered quickly, tying the game in the second. Jason Krizan put the first of his three doubles on the night in the gap in left center, and scored after the next batter, Ryan Thompson, punched a single up the middle.

With one out in the fourth, DBU's Austin Knight laced a double just inside the bag at third to score a pair and give the Patriots a 3-1 lead. The damage would be limited to only that, however, as Knight moved to third on a groundout and was subsequently picked off the bag by catcher Kevin Gonzalez to end the inning.

While Black kept the Aggies at bay through the middle innings, Raley got stronger on the hill and allowed a chance for a comeback. After issuing back-to-back two-out singles in the fifth, the southpaw retired the next nine Patriot batters in order in taking the game into the eighth.

A&M did not get its second hit off Black until the seventh, and it led to a run. Kyle Colligan began the inning with a single up the middle. One out later, David Alleman lined a base hit just past a diving Knight at second to move Colligan to third base. The next hitter, Kevin Gonzalez, would pull the Aggies within one with a two-strike single up the middle that made the score 3-2.

Kyle Colligan tied the game in the eighth when he was hit in the back with the bases loaded by Haney's first pitch of the night. The Aggies got a pinch-hit single off Black from Dylan Petrich and drew back-to-back walks one out later to end the junior's night.

Raley went 7 2/3 innings and gave up seven hits, three runs (two earned) and two walks while punching out nine. Alex Wilson (5-5) picked up the win in relief after allowing only a hit in 1 1/3 shutout innings.

Black did not factor in the decision either, issuing five hits, three runs and five walks while striking out six in 7 1/3 innings. Haney (4-3) allowed a hit, the decisive run and two walks on the night. The only two outs he recorded were punchouts.

All six of the Aggies' hits came with two strikes in the count. Krizan was the only player with multiple hits on the night, as he recorded three doubles.

The teams take the field for game two of the series on Friday with first pitch set for 6:35 p.m. True freshman Ross Hales (4-1, 3.54 ERA) will face Patriot junior Ryan Millard (5-2, 4.84). Tickets are available at the gate or online at aggieathletics.com.

POSTGAME NOTES

• Texas A&M improved to 24-7 at home in 2009 and 8-1 on the current 13-game homestand.

• Thursday marked the Aggies' fifth walk-off win of the year and second in a row...A&M downed TCU two days earlier on a single by Joe Patterson.

• All of A&M's six hits on the night came with two strikes.

• Thursday's win was A&M's 19th come-from-behind victory of the season.

• Luke Anders (10 games) and Joe Patterson (six games) saw hit streaks come to an end.

• With nine strikeouts on the night, A&M pitching has fanned eight or more batters in 35 of 45 games in '09...the Aggie staff has punched out 444 hitters so far this year, 92 shy of the school record (536, set in 1991 and 1999) with 10 regular-season games remaining.

• DBU starter Victor Black, a junior from Amarillo, is the brother of Kelsey Black, a rising sophomore on the Aggie volleyball team.

• Texas A&M is in the midst of a very strong finish to its '09 schedule...the Aggies' remaining opponents have a combined record of 153-62-1 (.711) entering the weekend...A&M will play seven of its remaining 10 games against squads ranked in the top 33 of the latest NCAA RPI--#8 Texas (3), #17 Oklahoma (3), #32 Texas State (1).

• Game-time temperature was 85 degrees with partly sunny skies and winds blowing out to center at 14 miles per hour (gusting to 23).

POSTGAME QUOTES

HEAD COACH Brooks Raley did a great job of keeping it close and giving us a chance to even have a chance late in the game. I was proud of us for persevering tonight. It's not how you start, it's how you finish. I've said that about our season, and tonight's game was typical of that. I can't give Victor Black enough credit. That guy pitched his heart out."

JUNIOR Brodie Greene's: "I didn't look too good in my first couple of at-bats, and I was kind of down. But getting that big hit hopefully sets the tone for the weekend. Two wins like that in the first two games of the week is big. We'll take a big lift from this one and come out tomorrow and hopefully win the series."