Texas A&M 11, Texas Tech 4

Saturday, May 23

Oklahoma City, Okla.

9:15 PM

Texas A&M

36-22

Texas Tech

25-32

Texas A&M

Texas Tech

May 24, 2009 | Baseball

Box Score

By: Texas A&M Athletics

May 24, 2009

Head Coach Childress
1B L. Anders

Final Stats

OKLAHOMA CITY - Texas A&M exploded for nine runs in the first three innings and cruised to an 11-4 victory over Texas Tech to wrap up play in the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship Saturday evening before 7,462 fans at AT&T Bricktown Ballpark.

The win moved the 19th-ranked Aggies (36-22) into a tie with Missouri atop Pool 2 with a 2-1 record, but the Tigers advanced to Sunday's title game with Texas by virtue of their 5-2 win over A&M on Wednesday. The Red Raiders (25-32) saw their season came to an end with the loss.

Despite knowing they could not advance to the tournament championship before ever taking the field and after waiting out a nearly two-hour rain delay, the Aggie offense came out with a purpose, batting around in the second and third innings and pounding out 15 hits en route to their 36th win of the season.

Luke Anders put the Aggies on the board in the first with a solo shot over the bullpen in right, his 13th of the season.

Nine men came to the plate in the second, as A&M pushed four runs across to take a 5-0 lead. Brodie Greene and Anders had run-scoring singles, and a two-RBI hit to left by Kyle Colligan would end the night for Tech starter Miles Morgan.

An RBI single by Jeremy Mayo and a passed ball pulled Tech back into the game briefly in the second, as the Red Raiders cut the deficit to three.

The Aggies would bat around again in the third. Consecutive one-out singles, followed by a balk, set the Aggies up for a big third inning. After a passed ball drove home the frame's first run, Brooks Raley lined a two-run single back through the box that made the score 8-2. Anders then doubled off the wall and Colligan drew a walk to load the bases and chase reliever Louis Head. The next batter, Joe Patterson, would ground out to first to score Raley with the ninth run of the night for Texas A&M.

Chris Richburg launched a solo home run for Tech in the third, and the squads traded runs in the fourth. A&M would up the lead to 11-4 in the sixth with a two-out infield single by Raley that bounced over the pitcher's mound and scored Greene from second base.

Anders and Greene had three hits apiece to lead the 15-hit attack, while Raley, Colligan and Patterson had two hits each.

A&M starter Ross Hales (6-2) picked up the victory, giving up seven hits and four runs (three earned) over 5 1/3 innings. He walked three and struck out five. Thebeau picked up his second save of the year and 11th of his career, no-hitting Tech over the final 3 2/3 innings while punching out five.

Morgan (2-6) lasted 1 2/3 innings, giving up six hits, five runs (all earned) and three walks while striking out one.

The Aggies now await their postseason fate and anticipate an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament when the field of 64 is announced on Monday (11:30 a.m. CT, ESPN). Stay tuned to aggieathletics.com for up-to-date postseason information.

POSTGAME NOTES

• Ross Hales' strikeout of Justin Berry leading off the fourth inning set the school's single-season record for strikeouts in a season...with 10 punchouts on the night, the Aggies now have 544.

• Luke Anders became the sixth player in school history to reach the 40-home run plateau with a solo shot in the first inning...Anders ranks sixth all-time and is one behind his teammate, Kyle Colligan (41).

• Texas A&M's bagel on the scoreboard in the fifth inning snapped a streak of eight straight innings in which the Aggies had scored...A&M had scored in all but one inning on Friday night's 17-15 win over Oklahoma...from the ninth inning of Wednesday's game against Missouri through the first four on Saturday, the Aggies had scored in 12 of 13 at-bats.

• Kyle Thebeau moved into a tie for sixth on the A&M all-time career chart with a strikeout in the sixth inning...Thebeau's 247 Ks matches Clint Thomas (1973-76).

• With two hits on the night, Kyle Colligan passed Steven Truitt (1997-99) for ninth place on the A&M career hit chart...Colligan now has 237 for his career.

• A&M drew a season high nine walks on the night.

• The Aggies scored 10 or more runs in consecutive games for the third time this season and for the first time since April 19 and 22 (10-1 over Nebraska, 21-4 over Prairie View).

• 2009 marked the first time in school history that the Aggies have scored double-figure runs in consecutive Big 12 tournament games...A&M put up 17 against Oklahoma on Friday and 11 against Texas Tech Saturday night...in fact, the Aggies have scored 10 or more runs in two tourney games just once before (1997).

• Texas A&M now leads the all-time series with Texas Tech, 89-54...the teams have split six meetings in the Big 12 tourney.

• Texas A&M is now 18-19 all-time at the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship.

• Game-time temperature was 70 degrees with cloudy skies and calm winds...the start of the game was delayed for one hour and 45 minutes by a thunderstorm that passed over Bricktown Ballpark and produced heavy winds, sheets of rain and small hail.