April 29, 2010
COLLEGE STATION, Texas--Texas A&M treks north this weekend when the Aggies (23-16-1) face the Nebraska Huskers (19-22) in a Big 12 series in Lincoln ... Friday's opener is set for 6:35 p.m., Saturday's at 2:05 p.m. and Sunday's finale at 11:05 a.m. ... A&M is looking to pick up steam in the conference race with just three series remaining ... the Aggies, who have lost eight of 11 entering the series with Nebraska, are in eighth place in the standings at 7-10-1 but sit just 2 1/2 games out of third ... the Huskers, meanwhile, are 6-12 in league play and have also lost eight of their last 11 ... NU is in ninth in the Big 12 and is 1 1/2 games back of Texas A&M ... following the weekend, the Aggies have league games remaining at Oklahoma State (May 14-16) and home against Kansas State (May 21-23).
GAMES 41-43
TEXAS A&M AGGIES (23-16-1, 7-10-1 Big 12) at NEBRASKA HUSKERS (19-22, 6-12 Big 12) Hawks Field at Haymarket Park (8,486) • Lincoln, Nebraska
SCHEDULE: Friday, 6:35 PM / Saturday, 2:05 PM / Sunday, 11:05 AM TV (Friday): NET Sports (Nebraska only) / Kevin Kugler and Adrian Fiala
RADIO: WTAW-AM 1620 / Dave South and Kevin Hurley LIVE AUDIO: aggieathletics.com • radioaggieland.com LIVE STATS: aggieathletics.com
RANKINGS: neither team is ranked
SERIES HISTORY: A&M leads, 22-21
A&M STREAKS: Won 3 / Last 5 (2-3) / Last 10 (6-4) LAST MEETING: A&M 10, NU 1 (April 19, 2009 in College Station)
TEAM INFO: Texas A&M Nebraska
streak Won 1 Lost 2
Big 12 rank 8th (7-10-1) 9th (6-12)
NCAA RPI #32 #71
Last 5 / Last 10 3-2 / 3-7 1-4 / 3-7
Home / Away 20-9 / 2-6-1 12-5 / 5-17
HEAD COACHES Rob Childress (5th year) Mike Anderson (8th year)
at school 179-108-2 (.623) 299-166-2 (.642)
overall same same
vs opponent 6-7 vs NU 11-11 vs A&M
PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUPS
• FRIDAY: #50 Barret Loux (Jr., RHP, 6-2, 2.20) vs #33 Michael Mariot (Jr., RHP, 4-4, 5.40)
• SATURDAY: #36 Ross Stripling (So., RHP, 3-3, 4.41) vs #21 Tyler Niederklein (Fr., RHP, 3-0, 1.59)
• SUNDAY: TBA vs #30 Tom Lemke (Fr., RHP, 4-5, 5.48)
FOLLOWING THE ACTION
• RADIO -- Fans can listen to the game on WTAW-AM 1620 ... Dave South, Scott Clendenin and Kevin Hurley will call the action all season long ... 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.
BIG 12 SNAPSHOT: TEXAS A&M (7-10-1)
• SERIES WINS -- Texas Tech (2 of 3), Missouri (2 of 3).
• SERIES LOSSES -- vs/at/at Baylor (2 of 3), at/vs/vs Texas (sweep), Oklahoma (2 of 3).
• SERIES SPLITS -- at Kansas (1-1-1).
• REMAINING GAMES (9, 3H/6A) -- Nebraska (3A), Oklahoma State (3A), Kansas State (3H).
BIG 12 SNAPSHOT: NEBRASKA (6-12)
• SERIES WINS -- none.
• SERIES LOSSES -- at Texas (2 of 3), Oklahoma (2 of 3), at Oklahoma State (2 of 3), at Kansas State (2 of 3), Kansas (2 of 3), at Baylor (2 of 3).
• REMAINING GAMES (9, 6H/3A) -- A&M (3H), Missouri (3A), Texas Tech (3H).
A&M IN THE BIG 12
Texas A&M has a 203-177-2 record in its 14th season in the Big 12 Conference ... the Aggies have won four league championships, regular-season titles in 1998, 1999 and 2008 and the postseason championship in 2007 ... in one of the tighter races in recent years, A&M finished sixth in the league last season at 14-13 ... the Aggies became the third program to reach 200 Big 12 wins with a March 27 victory over Missouri.
A&M/NEBRASKA TIES
The Texas A&M coaching staff has strong ties to the Nebraska baseball program ... Aggie skipper Rob Childress spent eight seasons in Lincoln as the Huskers' pitching coach ... Childress was an assistant under Dave Van Horn from 1998-2002 and associate head coach under current Nebraska head man Mike Anderson for three seasons (2003-05) ... Aggie assistant Justin Seely played two seasons at Nebraska (2001-02) ... he hit .320 in `02, helping the Huskers return to the College World Series ... Seely also spent two seasons (2006 & 2007) as a volunteer assistant for Anderson in Lincoln ... A&M baseball athletic trainer Josh Cohen worked two years as a graduate assistant with the Nebraska baseball program ... in addition, numerous members of the Aggie athletic department and athletic administration have Husker ties, including Director of Athletics Bill Byrne (A.D. at Nebraska, 1992-2002); Senior Associate AD Jeff Schmahl; 12th Man Productions Director Michelle Glover; and TV Productions Manager Erik Pulverenti.
SERIES HISTORY: NEBRASKA
Texas A&M leads the all-time series, 22-21 ... the teams met only once prior to the formation of the Big 12, a 21-4 win by A&M at Olsen Field in 1989 ... the Aggies swept the Huskers last season at Olsen Field, outscoring NU a combined 28-4 ... in its last visit to Lincoln in 2008, A&M won the 16-inning opener, but lost the final two games in a Sunday doubleheader ... the Huskers rallied from four down in the first game of the twinbill to win, 9-8, then erased a 9-4 deficit in the rubber game to take the series ... the 16-inning game was the longest Big 12 game in Aggie history, and was the final victory in A&M's record-setting 16-game conference win streak in `08 ... 17 games in the series have been decided by two runs or less ... the Huskers are the only team the Aggies have not beaten at the Big 12 Championship (0-3 all-time) ... Texas A&M is 5-13 all-time in Lincoln and 3-6 all-time at Haymarket Park.
A&M/NU SERIES BREAKDOWN
Series Record: A&M leads, 22-21
A&M Streak: Won 3
in College Station: A&M leads, 17-5
in Lincoln: Nebraska leads, 13-5
neutral sites: Nebraska leads, 3-0
BIG 12 ERA (1997-present)
overall: series tied, 21-21
in College Station: A&M leads, 16-5
in Lincoln: Nebraska leads, 13-5
at Big 12 Tourney: Nebraska leads, 3-0
A&M vs NEBRASKA, BIG 12 SERIES HISTORY
overall: Won 8, Lost 5
in College Station: Won 6, Lost 1
in Lincoln: Won 2, Lost 4
A&M Streak: Won 1
series opener: Won 5, Lost 8
MORE ON NEBRASKA (19-22, 6-12)
Nebraska is 19-22 on the year and is in ninth place in the Big 12 at 6-12 ... the Huskers have lost two of three in all six league series this year, most recently in Waco to Baylor ... NU has lost two straight entering the weekend, including a 5-2 defeat at Iowa on Tuesday ... the Huskers rank sixth in the league in hitting (.298) and ninth in earned run average (5.38) ... senior Adam Bailey leads the league in hits (66), home runs (15) and RBIs (52), and ranks fourth with a .388 average ... a pair of freshmen feature in the weekend rotation in Tom Lemke (4-5, 5.48) and Tyler Niederklein (3-0, 1.59) ... NU will play nine of its final 13 games at home beginning this weekend ... Mike Anderson is in his eighth season as the head coach and is gunning for his 300th career victory on Friday night ... for more information visit huskers.com.
STATISTICAL COMPARISON: A&M vs NEBRASKA
A look at how Texas A&M and Nebraska stack up statistically entering the weekend...
A&M/NU STATISTICAL COMPARISON
Category A&M NU
Batting Avg. .291 .298
Runs Per Game 5.5 6.7
Home Runs 27 45
Stolen Bases 62-91 34-51
Earned Run Avg. 3.73 5.38
Opponent Avg. .245 .287
Strikeouts 400 258
Saves 7 6
Fielding Pct. .955 .970
UP NEXT
Texas A&M takes a break from Big 12 play, traveling to Sam Houston State Tuesday before hosting Dallas Baptist in a three-game set that opens Thursday evening at Olsen Field ... the Aggies' next conference action is May 14-16 at Oklahoma State.
NOTES AND NOTABLES: TEAM
• Texas A&M leads the Big 12 and ranks second nationally in strikeouts per nine innings (10.0), and is third in the league and 17th in the country in walks allowed per nine innings (2.75) ... the Aggies rank second in the league and 14th nationally in hits allowed per nine innings (8.59) ... A&M is third in the league and 20th nationally in earned run average (3.73).
• Texas A&M's pitching staff enters the weekend with 400 strikeouts, reaching that plateau for the 19th time in school history ... the Aggies have now fanned 400 or more hitters in four straight seasons ... with 16 regular-season games remaining, A&M would have to average 10.6 strikeouts per contest to break the school's single-season record (568, set last year) before postseason play begins.
• A&M has pounded out 10 or more hits in 20 of 40 games this year ... the Aggies have reached double-digits in hits in three straight games for just the third time this season ... the offense is hitting .291 and averaging 5.5 runs per game.
• Texas A&M's 6-5 loss to Oklahoma in 13 innings on April 24 was the second-longest Big 12 game in school history ... the longest was a 16-inning win at Nebraska on May 9, 2008.
• The 8-8 tie with Kansas on April 3 was just the second Big 12 tie in Texas A&M history ... the first was a 1-1 draw with Kansas State at Olsen Field on May 14, 2006, and was also the most recent tie for the Aggies.
• Texas A&M pitchers combined for 18 strikeouts in the March 12 win over No. 25 Washington State ... that tied for the most punchouts in a game by an Aggie staff since Jeff Granger fanned 21 in a win over Lubbock Christian on April 2, 1993 ... A&M also struck out 18 in a win over Texas-Pan American on March 30, 2001.
• A&M pitching has struck out 10 or more batters in 20 games this spring ... the Aggies are averaging 9.89 punchouts per nine innings and a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 3.53.
• Aggie pitching has held opponents to two runs or less in 10 games.
• Texas A&M played 20 of its first 23 games at home ... the Aggies' lone trip out of College Station during the span was for the QTI Baylor Classic in Waco ... A&M played the entire month of March at Olsen Field except for the final game of the month in San Marcos ... the Aggies have nine regular-season games scheduled outside the state of Texas (Big 12 series at Kansas, Nebraska and OSU).
NOTES AND NOTABLES: PLAYER
• Sophomore John Stilson ranks in the top two nationally of three pitching categories--strikeouts per nine innings (1st, 13.89), hits allowed per nine innings (1st, 4.30) and earned run average (2nd, 1.17).
• Senior CF Brodie Greene leads the team in eight offensive categories (average, hits, runs, triples, RBIs, home runs, total bases and slugging percentage) ... his 13 stolen bases rank second and he is the only player on the team to appear in all 40 games ... Greene had a career-high 16-game hit streak snapped March 26 against Missouri ... he has recorded a hit in 33 of 40 games this year, and multiple hits in 20 of 40 ... reached safely (hit, BB or HBP) in 26 straight games from Feb. 26-April 10 and 37 of 40 overall ... his six triples rank eighth nationally.
• Brodie Greene became the 13th player in school history to play in 200 games when he got the starting nod against Oklahoma on April 23 ... Greene also notched his 200th career hit in his first at-bat that evening, an RBI double.
• Three Aggie pitchers rank in the top 40 nationally in earned run average ... John Stilson (2nd, 1.17), Barret Loux (22nd, 2.20) and Michael Wacha (39th, 2.48).
• Junior 1B Caleb Shofner ranks second on the squad in most major categories, including average, hits, and home runs, and RBIs ... saw a career-high 14-game hit streak snapped in the middle game at Kansas (4/2).
• Sophomore Matt Juengel recently saw a career-high 11-game hit streak snapped against Texas ... he hit .452 with five runs scored.
• Junior BARRET LOUX ranks fourth nationally in strikeouts per nine innings (12.92), fifth in strikeouts (88), ninth in hits allowed per nine (5.87) and 22nd in ERA (2.20) ... Loux has punched out 10 or more hitters five times this year.
• Sophomore Scott Arthur leads the Aggies and ranks 22nd nationally with nine sacrifice bunts this season.
• Sophomore John Stilson has made a huge impact in his very brief Aggie career ... Stilson has made 19 appearances in relief so far in 2010 and has already picked up six wins and six saves, and has punched out 72 in 47 innings of work ... opponents are hitting .157 against Stilson.