March 27, 2010
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COLLEGE STATION, Texas - Adam Smith delivered a two-run, walk-off double in the bottom of the ninth inning to lift No. 21 Texas A&M to a 5-4 win over Missouri Saturday afternoon before 4,017 fans at Olsen Field.
Trailing by one to start the inning, Brodie Greene, drove a deep fly ball to the track in right, but Tiger outfielder Dane Opel made a great running catch at the wall. The out moved Naquin to third and brought Smith to the plate.
Smith, who entered the game in the eighth as a pinch-hitter, took the first two pitches before driving a 1-1 offering from Tiger reliever Jeff Emens down into the right field corner. Tyler Naquin scored easily from third, and Brandon Wood slid in head-first without a throw to end the game and set the team and the crowd into a frenzy.
With the win, A&M's first off the walk-off variety this year, the Aggies improved to 17-5 and 4-1 in Big 12 play. Mizzou fell to 12-8 and 0-2.
"I'm really proud of our guys," A&M coach Rob Childress said. "I was disappointed in our start, I didn't think we were ready to compete from the word go. Give their pitcher credit. But I was proud of the guys that came off the bench, and all the way around really. This was a huge win. We could be talking about all the shoulda, coulda, wouldas that we didn't do today, but for the guys to step up there in the last three innings and get it done I'm really proud of us."
A pitchers' duel through most of the afternoon, Missouri struck early off Aggie starter Ross Stripling. The Tigers would take an early 1-0 lead on a one-out RBI single by Brett Nicholas in the top of the first.
Stripling would settle in nicely after that, however, holding Mizzou scoreless until he was lifted with two outs in the fifth. MU would tack on a run in the sixth on a 1-out double by Blake Brown.
The score was the same entering the last of the seventh, and that's when the fireworks began--as both teams combined for seven runs in their final five at-bats.
Brett Parsons, who was robbed of a home run in the second on a great over-the-fence catch by Brown, led off the seventh with a single. One out later, an Andrew Collazo single put runners at the corners and brought the go-ahead run to the plate. Naquin finished off a great at-bat with a deep sacrifice fly to left, scoring Parsons to cut the Mizzou lead to 2-1.
Following a pitching change, Collazo swiped second to move into scoring position. Scott Arthur followed with a line drive into right that was dropped by Jonah Schmidt, allowing Collazo to score and tie the game. Arthur, who went to second on the error, broke for third on the ensuing pitch. The ball was wild and got to the backstop, and the A&M center fielder raced around third and headed home. The throw from catcher Ryan Ampleman cut down Arthur on a bang-bang play at the plate to keep the score tied..
Missouri fought right back however, using a hit batsman and a double to put a pair in scoring position against closer John Stilson with one out in the eighth. After the Tigers took the lead on an infield grounder that was misplayed, Ampleman executed a perfect sacrifice bunt to push another runner into scoring position. There was a collision between Ampleman and Aggie first baseman Matt Juengel on the play, however, resulting in Juengel having to leave the game. Michael Liberto then drove the first pitch he saw through the left side to make the score 4-2.
The Aggies would claw back within one in their half of the frame. A pair of hit batsmen and a single loaded the bases for Joaquin Hinojosa, who with one out lifted a sac fly deep to center to push Greene home and make the score 4-3.
Stilson quickly sat down the Tigers in the ninth, setting the stage for Smith's heroics.
Smith's 2-for-2, two-RBI performance off the bench paced a nine-hit A&M attack. Mizzou had four players--Liberto, Nicholas, Schmidt and Brown--tally two hits apiece.
Stilson (5-0) picked up the win, allowing one earned run and two hits over two innings of relief. He did not walk a batter and struck out four. Emens (1-2) suffered the loss, giving up three hits and two runs over 1 1/3.
Both starters pitched well but did not factor in the decision. Stripling went 4 2/3 and gave up six hits and one unearned run while fanning six. Mizzou's Eric Anderson lasted 5 1/3 shutout innings and allowed just three hits and a walk while fanning two.
The series concludes Sunday with first pitch set for 1:05 p.m. Fans can tune in locally on WTAW-AM 1620 or follow with free live video and live stats on aggieathletics.com.
POSTGAME QUOTES
HEAD COACH Rob Childress
On Adam Smith: "For that guy...everyone knows how talented he is. Sometimes talent's not the key thing, it's confidence. Nobody talks about confidence until you don't have any. And it's the hardest thing to get back when you don't. I was really happy for Adam."
On John Stilson's effort: "I felt like when we tied it, we needed to put the game in his hands. We may give up 20 runs tomorrow or we might score 20. But it was the right move. We didn't play very good defense there in the top of the eighth, but he came right back out and had a quick ninth and gave us a chance."
On the importance of this Big 12 win: "Every Big 12 game is going to be a dogfight. Our new players are learning that. There are no gimmies in this league. It doesn't matter what day or what team you're playing. They are a fight. If you're not ready for a fight, you're going to leave the field with a loss."
On the importance of the comeback win: "I think this was important in knowing that we can come back. We haven't done that this year at Olsen Field, when we've been down and had some Olsen Magic. I think it's important to know, `Hey, this team has Olsen Magic in them too.'"
On Matt Juengel: "I didn't stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night, but he's most likely got a concussion. We're going to take him for some tests. There's nothing broken, so hopefully he's going to be alright here pretty soon. I don't think he'll be fine for tomorrow, but he'll be fine."
SS Adam Smith
On the win: "I think the team really needed this one. We hadn't been playing too well through the first half of the game and we had a lot of guys step up big today."
On stepping up: "I think everyone is making strides, just as I am. Before that last at-bat, Coach Deggs told me that I was going to have the best at-bat I've ever had and I was going to drive the ball the other way--and that's exactly what I did. That was my approach at the plate."
On the game-winning at-bat: "What he was trying to do with a runner at third was get one of us to roll over (on a ball). Coach Deggs pulled me over and told me he wanted me to back it up, nice and calm. I had a nice approach and did exactly what he wanted me to."
POSTGAME NOTES
Caleb Shofner extended his hit streak to 11 games, a career high ... Joe Patterson's streak is also now at 11 games ... he has hit safely in all but one game this year and reached safely (hit, walk or HBP) in 36 straight games dating back to last season ... Shane Minks and head coach Rob Childress were ejected following the call at the plate to retire Arthur in the seventh ... A&M first baseman Matt Juengel suffered a concussion in an eighth-inning collision at first base and was taken to the hospital following the game for precautionary measures ... game-time temperature was 75 degrees with scattered clouds and winds blowing out to center at 10 miles per hour.