Aggies Head to Waco for QTI Baylor Classic

Feb. 25, 2010

Complete Game Notes (PDF format)

COLLEGE STATION, Texas - Texas A&M heads north to Waco this weekend to participate in the QTI Baylor Classic at Baylor Ballpark ... the Aggies will join Western Kentucky, Texas State and host Baylor in the three-day, six-game tournament ... all four teams in the power-packed field are coming off trips to the NCAA Tournament in 2009 ... A&M will be looking to bounce back from a tough 7-6 mid-week loss to Stephen F. Austin at Olsen Field and will open play Friday night at 6 p.m. against WKU ... the Aggies will meet the Bears in a game that will not count towards the Big 12 standings on Saturday at 1 p.m., and close out action in Waco on Sunday evening at 5 p.m. against Texas State ... fans can listen to Friday and Sunday contests on WTAW-AM 1620 and the Saturday game with Baylor on Sports Radio 1150 The Zone ... the games will mark A&M's only ones away from home until March 30, when they travel to San Marcos to face the Bobcats.

PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUPS

• FRIDAY vs WKU: #50 Barret Loux (Jr., RHP, 1-0, 1.80) vs. #17 Matt Ridings (Sr., RHP, 0-0, 13.50) • SATURDAY vs BU: #36 Ross Stripling (So., RHP, 1-0, 5.40) vs. #4 Logan Verrett (So., RHP, 0-1, 7.71) • SUNDAY vs TXST: #24 Nick Fleece (Jr., RHP, 0-0, 1.80) vs. #31 Brian Borski (Jr., RHP, 1-0, 3.60)

QTI BAYLOR CLASSIC SCHEDULE

• FRIDAY: Texas State vs Baylor, 2:00 PM; Texas A&M vs Western Kentucky, 6:00 PM • SATURDAY: Texas A&M vs Baylor, 1:00 PM; Western Kentucky vs Texas State, 5:00 PM • SUNDAY: Western Kentucky vs Baylor, 1:00 PM: Texas State vs Texas A&M, 5:00 PM

FOLLOWING THE ACTION

• RADIO -- Fans can listen to the Friday and Sunday games on WTAW-AM 1620 ... Saturday's game will be broadcast on Sports Radio 1150 The Zone ... Dave South, Scott Clendenin and Kevin Hurley will call the action ... pregame show begins 15 minutes prior to first pitch. • INTERNET -- aggieathletics.com will offer live play-by-play and statistics. • MOBILE PHONE -- listen to the game on your iPhone, Blackberry or PDA free of charge ... log on to radioaggieland.com for more information. • TWITTER -- Follow the team all season long, including live in-game updates, at @aggie_baseball.

SERIES HISTORY: WESTERN KENTUCKY

Texas A&M and WKU have met just once on the baseball diamond, with the Hilltoppers posting a 4-1 victory over the Aggies on March 10, 1987 at Olsen Field.

MORE ON WESTERN KENTUCKY (2-1)

Western Kentucky University (Bowling Green, Kentucky) is 2-1 on the year after taking two of three from Kent State at home over the weekend ... the Hilltoppers return 15 letterwinners, five position starters and two starting pitchers from a 2009 squad that went 42-20, won the Sun Belt Conference title at 21-8 and advanced to the NCAA tournament for the second straight season ... Western Kentucky pushed Ole Miss to the brink in the Oxford Regional before falling in the "if necessary" championship game, 4-1 ... WKU was picked to finish second by the league's head coaches, and four players (SP Matt Ridings, RP Bart Carter, C Matt Rice and 2B Matt Payton) earned all-SBC preseason team honors ... Chris Finwood (VMI `88) is in his fifth season at Western Kentucky with a record of 124-108, and is in his eighth season overall as a head coach with a 176-205 mark ... for more information visit www.wkusports.com.

SERIES HISTORY: BAYLOR

The series with Baylor is the second longest in school history, with Saturday's game marking the 309th meeting between the long-time rivals ... the Aggies lead the series, 175-128-4, which dates back to 1904 ... A&M took two of three last year in a battle of top-10 teams, claiming the first two games in College Station before dropping a one-run, 10-inning affair in the series finale in Waco ... Texas A&M is 6-10 all-time in Baylor Ballpark, which opened in 1999 ... the teams will meet later this season from April 9-11 in Big 12 play.

MORE ON BAYLOR (4-1)

Baylor is 3-1 on the year after hosting the QTI Apparel Opening Weekend Classic last weekend at Baylor Ballpark ... the Bears defeated Duke twice and split a pair of games with then No. 22 Georgia ... BU returns 18 letterwinners, five position starters and 10 pitchers from a 2009 squad that went 30-26, finished eighth in the Big 12 at 10-16 and advanced to the NCAA Baton Rouge Regional ... Baylor was picked to finish sixth by the league's head coaches ... Steve Smith (Baylor `86) is in his 15th season in Waco with a record of 552-363-1 ... for more information visit baylorbears.com.

SERIES HISTORY: TEXAS STATE

Texas A&M leads the all-time series with Texas State, 36-11, which dates back to 1987 ... the Aggies have won the last three meetings, all at Olsen Field ... in a battle of top-25 teams last season, A&M claimed a 13-4 victory over the Bobcats on May 12 ... the series has featured frequent match-ups at Dell Diamond, home of the Round Rock Express, with the Aggies taking six of those seven contests ... the teams will play on Texas State's San Marcos campus for the first time since 2000 on March 30.

MORE ON TEXAS STATE (3-0)

Texas State is undefeated on the year after sweeping the Houston Cougars on the road last weekend ... the Bobcats return 19 letterwinners, five position starters and nine pitchers from a 2009 squad that went 41-17, won the Southland Conference at 24-7 and advanced to the NCAA Austin Regional ... Texas State was picked to successfully defend its SLC title by the league's head coaches ... Ty Harrington (Texas `89) is in his 11th season in San Marcos with a record of 337-252 ... for more information visit txstatebobcats.com.

UP NEXT

Texas A&M opens a 17-game homestand on Wednesday at 4:05 p.m. when the Aggies host BYU ... the game was moved up to avoid a conflict with the men's basketball team's final home game of the year against Oklahoma State (8 p.m.) ... A&M will play every game in the month of March but the final one (March 30 at Texas State) at the friendly confines of Olsen Field.

A LOOK BACK: SFA

Stephen F. Austin scored all seven of its runs with two outs in the third inning and held on for a 7-6 win over Texas A&M Wednesday afternoon before 2,492 fans at Olsen Field ... The Aggies (3-1) had a golden chance to tie the game in the bottom of the ninth, as pitcher Joe Patterson finished the day 3-for-4 with two doubles and two runs scored, while Stilson was 2-for-4 with a double, triple and two RBIs ... Joaquin Hinojosa added a pair of hits for the Aggies.

NOTES AND NOTABLES

• Senior DH Joe Patterson is pacing a solid Aggie offensive attack, hitting a team-best .667 (10-for-15) with three doubles, a home run, four RBIs and five runs scored ... senior CF Brodie Greene, the reigning Big 12 Player of the Week, is hitting .500 with two triples, six RBIs and seven runs scored ... junior 1B Caleb Shofner has a team-best two home runs and seven RBIs and sports a .400 average. • While struggling at times last season with two-out hitting, the Aggies have started 2010 with a bang in that category ... A&M is hitting .429 this year with two outs, and 15 of its 31 RBIs (48 percent) have come with two down. • A&M's weekend starting rotation of junior Barret Loux, sophomore Ross Stripling and junior Nick Fleece are a combined 2-0 with a 3.00 ERA on the very young season ... the trio held Seton Hall hitters to a .258 average last weekend, and allowed just two walks while striking out 13 over 15 innings of work. • The Aggie bullpen has been outstanding through the first four games of the year ... through nine appearances, the pen has combined for a 1-0 record and a 0.49 ERA, giving up just one earned run over 18.1 innings of work ... during that span, the group has allowed just 10 hits, walked just three and fanned 20 while holding hitters to a .156 average. • Sophomore two-way standout John Stilson has made a huge impact in his very brief Aggie career ... Stilson has made two appearances in relief so far in 2010, and has allowed one baserunner in 18 plate appearances--a bunt single on the infield Wednesday vs SFA ... he promptly retired the next batter on a first-pitch double play ... he's also gotten seven at-bats, hitting .429 with a double, triple, two RBIs, two runs scored and two stolen bases. • Texas A&M will play 21 of its first 24 games at home ... the Aggies' lone trip out of College Station during the span is for this weekend's QTI Baylor Classic in Waco ... A&M will play the entire month of March at Olsen Field until it closes the month on March 30 at Texas State ... the Aggies have nine regular-season games scheduled outside the state of Texas (Big 12 series at Kansas, Nebraska and OSU).

FRIDAY'S PROBABLE STARTER: #50 BARRET LOUX

Junior right-hander Barret Loux will get the ball on Friday against Western Kentucky ... Loux made his first career opening-day start last week against Seton Hall (2/19), picking up the victory (5 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 8 K) ... he finished 2009 with a 3-3 record and 4.12 ERA ... ranked fourth on the staff with 62 strikeouts over 48 innings of work and held opposing hitters to a .226 average ... punched out at least six batters in six outings ... was dominant in outing at No. 1 Rice (April 14), scattering four hits, striking out nine and walking one in five innings while picking up second win of season ... earned first win of the year vs Kansas (March 29), striking out a career-high 11 and allowing five hits over 6 2/3 innings.

SATURDAY'S PROBABLE STARTER: #36 Ross Stripling

Sophomore Ross Stripling will start Saturday against Baylor ... got the win in his first career start last Saturday against Seton Hall (2/20 - 5 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 3 K) ... emerged as a solid bullpen presence for the Aggies as a true freshman in `09 ... appeared in 13 games, all in relief, posting a 1-0 record and 2.51 ERA ... 13 relief outings ranked sixth on the staff .. allowed first earned run in his seventh appearance (March 18 vs New Mexico) ... struck out the first six batters he faced in his A&M career ... punched out 18 in just over 14 innings of work while walking just four ... earned first career win in relief against Utah (March 8) ... played summer ball with the San Luis Obispo (Calif.) Blues of the wood-bat Sierra Baseball League ... went 2-2 with a 1.96 ERA in 36.2 innings of work ... fanned 56 batters and walked just 12.

SUNDAY'S PROBABLE STARTER: #24 Nick Fleece Junior Nick Fleece will get the nod Sunday against Texas State ... got a no decision in A&M's 6-3 win over Seton Hall on Saturday (2/20 - 5 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 2 K), the first start of his career ... led the pitching staff with 26 appearances in 2009, all in relief, and a team-best five saves ... finished the year with a 4-1 record and a 3.54 ERA, punching out 32 batters in 28 innings of work ... allowed a run in just five of his 26 relief outings ... strikeout-to-walk ratio was 4.0 ... averaged 10.3 strikeouts per nine innings ... named Big 12 Co-Pitcher of Week (March 30), also pulled in numerous national honors ... picked up two wins and two saves, gave up 1 hit in 6.1 IP of shutout relief ... factored in to decision in all five of A&M's wins from March 22-29 (save, win, save, win, save) ... began the season with 11 2/3 consecutive scoreless innings of relief.

GREENE EARNS FIRST CAREER BIG 12 WEEKLY HONOR

Texas A&M senior center fielder Brodie Greene was named the Phillips 66 Big 12 Player of the Week on Feb. 22 by a select media panel. Greene hit .727 (8-for-11) in the Aggies' three-game sweep of Seton Hall with two triples, six RBIs and three stolen bases. The Bullard, Texas native reached base in 10 of his 14 plate appearances, scoring seven of those times, and posted a slugging percentage of 1.091 and an .833 average with runners in scoring position. Not only was he a big success at the plate, but Greene also excelled in his first start in center field in nearly two years. He recorded a diving catch on a deep fly ball to center field in the first game of the twinbill on Feb. 20 that saved several runs, and also picked up an outfield assist in the fifth inning of the second game. The latter helped gun down a runner at the plate and keep the score tied at three in a contest the Aggies' would eventually win, 6-3.