Aggies Drop Tourney Opener to WKU, 5-1

Friday, February 26

Waco, Texas

6:00 PM

Texas A&M

3-2

Western Kentucky

3-1

Texas A&M

Western Kentucky

Feb 26, 2010 | Baseball

Box Score

By: Texas A&M Athletics

Feb. 26, 2010

Final Stats

Rob Childress [mp3]

WACO, Texas - Western Kentucky capitalized on five Texas A&M errors to defeat the Aggies, 5-1, Friday evening in the QTI Baylor Classic before 2,952 fans at Baylor Ballpark.

The Hilltoppers (3-1) scored four unearned runs off three Aggie miscues in the decisive fourth inning, building a 5-0 advantage en route to the victory. Texas A&M dropped to 3-2 with the loss.

"This was a disappointing loss," A&M coach Rob Childress said. "I like the effort and the attitude with which we played, but we've got to play better and execute better."

WKU got on the board in the last half of the second. After a one-out single through the right side by Jake Wells, Casey Dykes hit a tailing liner into right field that got over the head of Tyler Naquin and up against the wall to put runners at second and third with one out. The next batter, Kory Petri, chopped a ball to third base that scored Dykes to give the Hilltoppers an early 1-0 lead.

With two outs and a runner at first base in the fourth, WKU shortstop Logan Robbins hit a sinking liner towards the line in right. Aggie right fielder Tyler Naquin raced over and attempted a running catch, but the ball popped out of his glove. That allowed Petri to score all the way from first and double the WKU lead. Back-to-back hits would drive in another run to make the score 3-0. Then, two infield errors on a ground ball to short pushed the frame's third run across.

Following a walk to load the bases, Aggie catcher Kevin Gonzalez tried to pick the runner off second. As the throw got down to the bag, shortstop John Stilson was tangled up between catching the ball and the runner, and Matt Payton took off from third and scored safely to make the score 5-0.

Texas A&M would get on the board against Hilltopper starter Matt Ridings in the sixth.

Brodie Greene, drove a ball to the wall in left field that hit the ground as left fielder Jared Andreoli crashed into the wall. Arthur, who could only advance to second, scored on the ensuing pitch as Caleb Shofner was hit by a pitch to load the bases and bring the tying run to the plate, but Ridings struck out the final two batters of the inning to keep the score 5-1.

The Aggie bullpen had another strong night to keep its team in the ballgame. Over the final four innings, starter Barret Loux and relievers Tyler Dyer combined to retire 12 of the last 14 Hilltopper batters--allowing only a pair of walks.

A&M would get runners on in each of the final three innings, and push them into scoring position in the eighth and ninth, but the Aggies were unable to break through against the Western Kentucky bullpen.

Loux (1-1) lasted five complete and gave up six hits, five runs and two walks while striking out six. Only one of the five runs, however, was earned.

"I thought he pitched much better tonight than he did last Friday," Childress said. "Last Friday he threw a very good fastball and not much other than that. But tonight he had all four pitches working and did a good job against a good lineup."

Ridings (1-0) picked up the win, tossing six innings and allowing six hits, one run and a walk while fanning four. Bart Carter and Rye Davis totaled three innings of shutout relief for WKU, giving up three hits and striking out five.

Patterson, Collazo and Kevin Gonzalez had two hits apiece to lead the Aggie offense, which out-hit Western Kentucky, 9-5. Andreoli was the only Hilltopper with multiple hits after a 2-for-5 effort.

Texas A&M continues play in the QTI Baylor Classic on Saturday when the Aggies face host Baylor (4-1) in a game that will not count towards the Big 12 standings. First pitch is set for 1 p.m. and the game will air in Bryan/College Station on Sports Radio 1150 The Zone.

"If we bring the same intensity tomorrow that we did tonight, we'll be just fine," Childress said. "I felt like our guys were in to it from the word go and played with a lot of enthusiasm and a lot of effort, we've just got to turn the dial down a little bit when we have the opportunity to make plays defensively and when we're at the plate with runners in scoring position."