Greene Homers Twice to Lead Aggies to 6-5 Win over Cougars

Sunday, March 14

College Station

1:05 PM

Texas A&M

13-3

Washington State

10-3

Washington State

Texas A&M

Mar 14, 2010 | Baseball

Box Score

By: Texas A&M Athletics

March 14, 2010

Final Stats

Rob Childress [mp3]

Brodie Greene [mp3]

COLLEGE STATION, Texas - Brodie Greene hit two home runs and drove in four to lead Texas A&M to a 6-5 win over Washington State and a series win Sunday afternoon before 3,343 fans at Olsen Field.

Greene's second round-tripper was the decisive blow in the game, a two-out, two-run shot off the batter's eye in center field that broke a 4-4 tie. John Stilson pitched the final three innings of the game and allowed an eighth-inning home run, but retired the final six batters in order to finish the afternoon.

The victory moved the Aggies, winners of 10 of their last 11 games, to 13-3 on the year. The Cougars, meanwhile, fell to 10-3.

"This really was a good weekend for us," head coach Rob Childress said. "Washington State does a very good job. This was a great test for us going into conference. We couldn't have asked for anything more this weekend other than three wins. It prepared us for next week against Texas Tech, that's for sure."

Greene's first long ball put the Aggies on the board in the first, a two-run shot to right. His first round-tripper of the year gave A&M a 2-0 lead and extended his hit streak to a career-best 12 games.

The Cougars tied the game in their next at-bat. After two hits and a ground out put the tying runs in scoring position, Kyle Buchanan reached on a misplayed infield grounder that drove home the Cougars' first tally. The next batter, Garry Kuykendall, flew out deep into foul territory in left, scoring Shea Vucinich easily to even the score at 2-2.

A&M answered in the second, regaining the lead on an RBI double inside the bag at third by Brandon Wood. Following a stolen base, Andrew Collazo executed a suicide squeeze to perfection, as Wood scored easily from third to make the score 4-2.

WSU came right back in the third, pulling within one on an RBI double by Michael Weber that chased Aggie starter Clayton Ehlert relieved him and would allow a two-out game-tying single to Vucinich, but settled in and allowed just two more Cougar baserunners through the sixth.

"Today was just one of those days where every time we scored we weren't able to go hang a zero on the board," Childress said. "They came back every time. I was proud of Clayton Ehlert, he gave us a stop and threw three-plus innings of shutout baseball. We gave the ball to Stilson and he was able to do what he does, and Brodie got the big hit for us."

The score remained tied as the Aggies came to bat in the seventh. Scott Arthur drew a two-out, full-count walk to set the stage for Greene, who hit the second pitch he saw from reliever Paris Shewey out of the park to put Texas A&M back on top at 6-4.

Weber touched Stilson for a solo home run to right in the eighth that cut the lead in half, but it would be the final Cougar to reach base on the day.

Greene finished the day 2-for-3 and matched career bests with the two home runs and four RBIs. Caleb Shofner had two hits apiece for A&M.

Weber paced the Cougar attack by going 2-for-4 with a double, the home run and two RBIs. Vucinich and Brett Jacobs also had a pair of hits on the day.

On the mound, Stilson (4-0) earned the win, allowing two hits, one earned run and a walk over three innings. He struck out four. Ehlert gave up three hits and fanned five over 3 2/3 shutout innings.

Shewey (2-1) suffered the loss after giving up two runs, two hits and two walks over three innings.

Texas A&M returns to action on Tuesday when the Aggies host Centenary (6-6) in mid-week action at Olsen. First pitch is set for 6:35 p.m.

NOTES: Texas A&M now leads the series with Washington State, 9-5 ... Sunday was Brodie Greene second multi-homer game of his career, as he hit two against Dallas Baptist last season (May 2, 2009) ... Greene also extended his hit streak to a career-best 12 games ... Joe Patterson has now hit safely in all but one game this year and reached safely (hit, walk or HBP) in 31 straight games dating back to last season ... Washington State outfielder Kyle Johnson, who was injured in a collision in the ninth inning of Saturday's game, was at the ballpark and in the Cougar dugout but was not dressed out.