Texas A&M
35-22
Oklahoma
41-17
Texas A&M 17, Oklahoma 15
May 23, 2009 | Baseball
May 23, 2009
OKLAHOMA CITY - Brett Parsons drove in a career-high five runs and Joe Patterson added four hits and four RBIs to lead No. 19 Texas A&M to a wild 17-15, come-from-behind win over No. 8 Oklahoma Friday night before 7,416 fans at AT&T Bricktown Ballpark.
The Aggies trailed 6-0 after the top of the first, but scored five in the bottom of that frame and kept scratching back before finally taking the lead in the sixth. A&M, which scored in all but the fourth inning, carried a 17-10 lead into the ninth before OU put up a five spot. The Sooners eventually placed the tying run on base before Aggie reliever Travis Starling induced a game-ending double play to seal the nearly four-hour win for the maroon and white.
The victory keeps Texas A&M (35-22) in the hunt for a berth in the tournament championship game. The Aggies must beat Texas Tech Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and get a win by Oklahoma over Missouri earlier in the day (4 p.m.) to advance to Sunday's title tilt. The Sooners (41-17) can advance to the title game with a win over Mizzou and an A&M loss to Texas Tech.
Texas A&M pounded out a season-high 19 hits and set a school tournament record with 17 runs, but had to climb out of a big hole early to pick up the win.
A walk and two misplayed pop-ups would lead to a big six-run first for OU. Jamie Johnson began the game with a full-count free pass, then moved to second on a sacrifice bunt. The next batter, Bryant Hernandez, lifted a fly ball into right field that dropped in front of Scott Arthur for a single to put runners at first and second. J.T. Wise took advantage by driving a 3-2 pitch to the gap in right center, scoring both and giving the Sooners a 2-0 lead.
Aaron Baker then skied a ball on the left side of the infield that dropped between short and third, and Oklahoma's Garret Buechele and Casey Johnson would follow with back-to-back RBI singles through the infield to double the lead. Trey Sperring then drove a deep home run to the bullpen in left to push home the frame's final two runs.
Texas A&M got right back in the game off OU starter Michael Rocha as the Aggies stepped to the plate and drew three straight walks to begin their at-bat. One out later, Patterson laced a two-run single to right to chase Rocha from the game, and Kevin Gonzalez greeted reliever Tyson Seng with a run-scoring hit through the infield to make the score 6-3. Following a strikeout and a walk, Parsons was called off the bench to pinch hit for Arthur, and the sophomore delivered in a big way with a two-run single to left that cut the deficit to one.
Raley was lifted after a lead walk to start the second. Following a sacrifice bunt, Hernandez laced a 2-2 single to center off reliever Alex Wilson to drive home a run. One out later, Wise drove a full-count offering off the top of the fence in the right field corner and came home on an RBI single by Aaron Baker that made the score 8-5.
In the bottom of the second, Patterson cut the deficit to two with a first-pitch, one-out single back through the box off reliever Tyson Seng to bring home Luke Anders.
Raley capped a two-out, 11-pitch at-bat in the third with a line-drive double down the right field line that scored Brodie Greene to bring the Aggies within one at 8-7.
Wise struck again in the fourth, making the Aggies pay for a walk, balk and infield error with a two-run double down the left field line that put Oklahoma back up three at 10-7.
Wise's double, however, would be the last baserunner that Oklahoma would get until the seventh. Wilson and Estevan Uriegas combined to sit down 14 of the next 15 batters faced to allow the Aggies to rally.
Texas A&M sent eight to the plate in the sixth and scored four times to take its first lead of the night. With two on and no outs, back-to-back RBI doubles by Joe Patterson and Caleb Shofner would give the Aggies their first lead of the night with an infield grounder that scored Patterson from third. Following a sacrifice bunt, Parsons lined a double inside the bag at first, scoring Shofner with A&M's 12th run.
Kyle Colligan laced a two-out triple in the seventh past a diving Casey Johnson in left. He would come home moments later on a balk by Chase Anderson to increase the A&M lead to three.
The Aggies tacked on to the lead with a four-run eighth on an RBI double by Parsons, an RBI triple by Brodie Greene, a ground-rule RBI double by Raley and a run-scoring single by Anders.
OU loaded the bases on A&M closer Nick Fleece in the ninth on a walk, a wild pitch after a strikeout and another walk. A hit batter and another walk made the score 17-12, and Chris Ellison cleared the bases with a three-run double inside the third-base bag. After another base hit put the tying run on base, Starling entered and on his third pitch got a ground ball off the bat of Harughty that the Aggie defense made a great turn on to get the final outs and nail down the victory.
Wilson (6-6) picked up the win in relief, working five innings allowing four hits and three runs (two earned) while walking two and striking out six. Uriegas picked up his third hold of the year with a hitless 1 2/3 innings of work. Starling's double-play grounder earned him his fourth save of the campaign.
Jeremy Erben (0-1) picked up the loss, allowing three runs and three hits in 2/3 of an inning.
Neither starter factored in the decision. Raley gave up six hits and seven runs (all earned) over one-plus inning of work, walking two and fanning one, while Rocha allowed four runs, a hit and three walks in 1/3 of an inning.
Texas A&M wraps up pool play in the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. when the Aggies face Texas Tech (25-31). Freshman Ross Hales (5-2, 3.90) will take the mound against Miles Morgan (2-5, 8.16). Fans can listen to the game on WTAW-AM 1620 or worldwide free of charge on radioaggieland.com and aggieathletics.com.
POSTGAME NOTES
• The teams combined to send 19 batters to the plate and score 11 runs in a 46-minute first inning.
• The 31 total runs scored are the second-most scored in a Big 12 Championship game...Oklahoma and Texas Tech combined for 36 runs in a game on May 18, 1997.
• Brett Parsons' five RBIs was a career high and set a school record in a Big 12 Tournament game...the previous best by an Aggie in the championship was four, set by four previous players (most recently Craig Stinson vs Texas, May 24, 2007)...Parsons' three hits were also a career high.
• Joe Patterson four hits tied a school record for knocks in a tournament game, held by eight other players (most recently Craig Stinson vs Baylor, May 27, 2007).
• Texas A&M's 17 runs were one shy of the Aggies' season high and the most scored by an A&M team in the Big 12 Championship...A&M's previous high was 14 in the tourney title game on May 27, 2007 vs Baylor.
• The 17 runs allowed by OU pitching were a season high.
• Texas A&M tied a Big 12 single-game tournament record with seven doubles (set three times, most recently by Texas Tech vs Nebraska in 2005).
• The Aggies' 19 hits were a season high...the previous best was 18 against Texas State (May 12).
• With 12 strikeouts on the night, A&M pitching has fanned 534 batters in 2009, two shy of the school record (536 set in 1991 and 1999).
• Oklahoma now leads the all-time series, 33-30...the victory snapped a four-game losing streak to the Sooners...A&M has won five of the nine meetings between the schools in the tournament.
• Game-time temperature was 81 degrees with clear skies and winds blowing from right to left at 15 miles per hour.
POSTGAME QUOTES
A&M HEAD COACH Rob Childress: "It was a great game -- from what we did in the last four games to tonight, coming out and answering the bell after giving up a six-spot in the first inning. Coming in and answering with a five-spot says a lot about our character and who we are. The way we responded offensively tonight was what we've been asking for a long time. When everybody's committed one through nine with the same approach, that's what happens."
A&M JUNIOR Joe Patterson: (on his first-inning hit) "Kyle and Luke have been doing a great job of getting on base, and he just hung me a slider. I just hit it to right field."
(on the team's approach) "We had a team meeting about getting it done, and we just started holding each other accountable about being inside the ball and not swinging at wild pitches. I really believe our team meeting is what caused that tonight."
A&M SOPHOMORE Brett Parsons: (on his pinch hit) "Coach Deggs called me from the sideline. I'm usually used to it in the later innings, but I was ready to get from the beginning just like any other night. I was just relaxing, and we tried something different in the cages tonight. We did simple soft toss, going back to the roots of what we base this program on, and it made it a lot easier to relax and play out there tonight."
A&M FRESHMAN Estevan Uriegas: "After I hit the guy, I was disappointed, but I knew all I had to do was get the batter to hit the ball in play and my defense would take care of it. After we put up those two runs to get ahead, I knew all I had to do was get out there and throw strikes."
OU COACH SUNNY GOLLOWAY: "It was a tough night for the Sooners. Our guys did a good job coming out opening and did a good job closing. It was really the bullpen. Their bullpen stabilized and ours didn't."
(on Michael Rocha) "With a 6-0 lead, it is very important that we leave our starter in. He gets the pitch count up and we have regionals next week. He walked the first three guys and then the trip to the mound wasn't real encouraging because he was clearly frustrated. So after I talked to him and he walked another guy and gave up the hit, he was just very frustrated."
(on the bullpen and regrouping) "I told our club we need each other more than ever this time in the year, and our bullpen has gotten us a lot of wins and really gotten us to this point. We are not a club that's ever pointed fingers, and our guys have great character. We will just regroup tonight and get ready for the quick turnaround."
OU JUNIOR BRYANT HERNANDEZ: (on the offensive explosion in the game) "That is the Big 12 for you. Every game is a dogfight, and you never know what is going to happen. We told the team that the game is not over and Coach kept emphasizing that. We know that every weekend when we come out and play that anything can happen."
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Wilson, Alex (6-6)
L: Erben, Jeremy (0-1)
S: Starling, Travis (4)
Batting:
2B: Wise, J.T. 3 ; Ellison, Chris 1
HR: Sperring, Trey 1
RBI: Hernandez, Bryant 1 ; Wise, J.T. 4 ; Baker, Aaron 1 ; Buechele, Garrett 1 ; Johnson, Casey 2 ; Sperring, Trey 2 ; Hubbard, Ross 1 ; Ellison, Chris 3
SH: Harughty, Matt 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Johnson, Jamie 2 ; Harughty, Matt 1 ; Hernandez, Bryant 2 ; Wise, J.T. 3 ; Baker, Aaron 2 ; Bushyhead, Caleb 1 ; Johnson, Casey 2 ; Sperring, Trey 1 ; Hubbard, Ross 1
HBP: Buechele, Garrett 1 ; Johnson, Casey 1
PO: Hernandez, Bryant 1
Batting:
2B: Raley, Brooks 2 ; Patterson, Joe 1 ; Gonzalez, Kevin 1 ; Shofner, Caleb 1 ; Parsons, Brett 2
3B: Greene, Brodie 1 ; Colligan, Kyle 1
RBI: Greene, Brodie 1 ; Raley, Brooks 2 ; Anders, Luke 1 ; Patterson, Joe 4 ; Gonzalez, Kevin 2 ; Shofner, Caleb 1 ; Parsons, Brett 5
SH: Smith, Adam 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Greene, Brodie 3 ; Raley, Brooks 2 ; Anders, Luke 3 ; Colligan, Kyle 2 ; Patterson, Joe 2 ; Gonzalez, Kevin 1 ; Shofner, Caleb 3 ; Parsons, Brett 1
CS: Colligan, Kyle 1
HBP: Colligan, Kyle 1
