Kansas Holds Off No. 22 Texas A&M, 9-5

Thursday, April 1

Lawrence, Kan.

6:00 PM

Texas A&M

17-8, 4-3

Kansas

18-9, 3-1

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
Texas A&M	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	4	0	5	15	1
Kansas	0	0	0	1	3	0	3	2	X	9	12	0

Apr 01, 2010 | Baseball

Box Score

By: Texas A&M Athletics

April 1, 2010

Final Stats

Rob Childress [mp3]

LAWRENCE, Kan. - Kansas built a six-run lead and withstood a late Texas A&M rally to hold on for a 9-5 win over the 22nd-ranked Aggies Thursday evening before 1,156 fans at Hoglund Ballpark.

KU (18-9, 3-1 Big 12) led 7-1 after seven before the Aggies (17-8, 4-3) pulled within a pair. The Jayhawks, however, got two back in the eighth and fought off a ninth-inning rally en route to its seventh victory in its last eight games.

"They made the most of their hits and got them when they counted," head coach Rob Childress said. "We didn't do that until the eighth and ninth innings. But I liked the fight in our guys. I felt like we got it going back again there offensively at the end, and that will carry over into tomorrow. There's no doubt in my mind we're going to come out here from the word go and get after it."

Brodie Greene opened the scoring for A&M with a solo home run to left--his fifth of the season--in the top of the third inning.

A lead walk to Brian Heere in the fourth would prove costly for Aggie starter Barret Loux. After an out, Heere swiped second base and moved to third on a wild pitch, then scored on an RBI grounder to second off the bat of Jimmy Waters to tie the game without the benefit of a hit in the frame.

Kansas then took the lead with a three-spot in the fifth. Two singles, sandwiched around a sacrifice bunt, and a full-count walk loaded the bases for the Jayhawks. Heere would cash in, driving the first pitch from Loux back up the middle, scoring Casey Lytle and Chris Manship. One out later, Waters would double to left center field to bring Robby Price home and make the score 4-1.

In the seventh, a one-out RBI double by Waters and a two-out, two-run double by Manship extended the Jayhawk lead to six.

Texas A&M rallied late though, batting around in the eighth and scoring four runs off five hits to pull within two.

A one-out RBI double by Caleb Shofner dropped a line single in front of a diving Waters in left to drive in the Aggies' fifth run of the night. KU then went to the pen to get closer Brett Bochy, whose first pitch was lined by Adam Smith into left--where Waters made a diving catch to save a run and end the inning.

A bases-loaded single by Waters in the last of the eighth got a run back for the Jayhawks, who would then add another on a shallow sac fly behind the first base bag after a nice running catch by Andrew Collazo.

A&M continued to put the pressure on in its final at-bat, loading the bases off Bochy to bring the tying run to the plate, but he induced a game-ending force at second to thwart the rally.

Designated hitter Kenny Jackson was a career-best 4-for-5 to lead A&M, Arthur added three hits and Shofner and Collazo finished the night with two hits apiece. For the game, the Aggies out-hit Kansas, 15-12.

Waters finished the day 3-for-5 with two doubles and a game-high four RBIs, while here added three hits and a pair of RBIs.

Walz (5-2) picked up the victory after giving up four runs over 7 1/3 innings of work. He gave up 11 hits and two walks while fanning eight. Bochy earned his fifth save of the season after getting the final four outs.

Loux (4-2) took the loss, going six complete and allowing five hits, four runs and four walks while striking out six. KU touched the Aggie pen for seven hits and five runs over two innings of work.

"I thought Barret had a very good start," Childress said. "Kansas did a very good job with him, but I thought he pitched extremely well. The bullpen didn't do a good job for us tonight, and it was guys that have been very successful for us in the past and guys that we're counting on again in the future for us. They need to go out and give us a hold, and I wouldn't say that if I didn't believe they had the talent and the ability to go and do that."

The series is scheduled to continue on Friday with first pitch set for 6 p.m. Sophomore Ross Stripling (3-1, 4.34) will get the ball and will face KU senior Cameron Selik (4-1, 5.14).

NOTES: A&M lost the series opener to Kansas for the first time since 2006 ... the Jayhawks snapped a seven-game losing skid to the Aggies on Thursday ... KU improved to 10-1 at home this season ... Caleb Shofner infield single in the fifth extended his hit streak to a career-high 14 games ... Game-time temperature was 77 degrees with cloudy skies and winds blowing in from right at 23 miles per hour (gusting to 35).