Aggies Open Big 12 Championship with 9-2 Win over Texas Tech

Wednesday, May 26

Oklahoma City, Okla.

9:00 AM

Texas A&M

37-19-1

Texas Tech

27-28

Texas Tech

Texas A&M

May 26, 2010 | Baseball

Box Score

By: Texas A&M Athletics

May 26, 2010

Final Stats

Caleb Shofner, & Matt Juengel [mp3]

Dan Spencer, Ben Flora, & Bonham Hough [mp3]

OKLAHOMA CITY - Michael Wacha was tremendous in his first postseason start and Matt Juengel drove in a career-high four to lead Texas A&M to a 9-2 over Texas Tech Wednesday morning in the opening game of the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship before 4,129 fans at AT&T Bricktown Ballpark.

Wacha, a true freshman, carried a perfect game into the sixth and faced just three over the minimum over seven strong innings. He allowed just two hits while walking one and striking out seven in leading the Aggies (37-19-1) to their 15th win in the last 18 games. The three hits by the Red Raiders (27-28) were the fewest allowed by an A&M pitching staff in Big 12 Championship history.

"I felt like Michael Wacha set the tone for the day, being ready to go at 9 o'clock in the morning," A&M coach Rob Childress said. "It all starts on the mound, and Michael retired the first 16 hitters of the game against a team that led the league in offense. We were able to score early and got big two-out hits today. Out of the nine we scored today, I think seven were with two outs. In all phases we played pretty well today."

The Aggies got off to a quick start against Tech starter Ben Flora, pouncing for a pair of runs in the first on a Brodie Greene RBI base hit and Juengel swinging-bunt single on the infield.

After another run came home on a squeeze play in the fourth, A&M answered Tech's first score of the day with a key two-out, two-run single to right by Caleb Shofner in the sixth that made the score 5-2.

Back-to-back home runs with two outs in the seventh blew the game open. Juengel launched a three-run shot into the bleachers in left for his seventh of the season, and Adam Smith followed with his eighth five pitches later, an opposite-field blast to right center to close the scoring.

Wacha retired the first 16 hitters in order, striking out seven and getting help from his defense--diving stops by Shofner at third and Joe Patterson at first, and a diving catch in left center by Joaquin Hinojosa in the fifth helped preserve the perfect game. Bonham Hough would end the bid with one out in the sixth, however, with a one-out home run to left in the sixth.

Wacha improved to 8-2 on the season with the victory, while John Stilson allowed one hit and fanned four over the final two frames. Flora (3-3) took the loss, allowing six hits and three home runs over 5 1/3. He struck out a career-best six.

Juengel and Shofner had two hits apiece and combined to drive in six of the nine Aggie runs. A&M had five two-out hits on the day and scored seven of nine with two down.

Texas A&M resumes play in the tournament Thursday when the Aggies face No. 8-seed Missouri at 7:30 p.m. Junior Barret Loux (9-2, 2.53 ERA) will take the mound and is scheduled to face Tiger left-hander Kelly Fick (2-1, 3.53). Fans can listen locally on WTAW-AM 1620 or follow through free live video and stats at big12sports.com.

POSTGAME NOTES: Texas A&M has now won three straight Big 12 tourney games, matching an all-time high for the program (three in a row in both 2001 and 2007) ... the three hits allowed were the fewest by an Aggie pitching staff in Big 12 Tourney history ... the previous low was five hits in a 2001 win over Oklahoma ... A&M's 11 strikeouts of Texas Tech hitters was the second most by an Aggie team at the tourney (12 vs Oklahoma, May 22, 2009) ... the nine runs were the third most by an A&M team in a Big 12 tourney opener ... the Aggies snapped a four-game losing skid in tourney openers, winning their first lid-lifter since 2003 ... Texas A&M is now 19-19 all-time at the Big 12 Championship and 17-13 at AT&T Bricktown Ballpark ... the Aggies are now 92-55 all-time vs Texas Tech and have won four of seven meetings at the Big 12 Championship ... A&M snapped a four-game losing skid in Big 12 tourney openers in getting their first since 2003 ... Matt Juengels' four RBIs were a career high ... Caleb Shofner made his first start at third base since April 23 vs Oklahoma ... Juengel (8 games), Joe Patterson (5) extended hit streaks ... A&M is now two stolen bases shy becoming the seventh team in school history to swipe 100 bags ... the Aggies improved to 13-3 in May, a school record for the month ... A&M has pounded out 10 or more hits in 33 of 57 games this year and did so Wednesday for the 27th time in 38 games at the Big 12 Championship ... the pitching staff has 529 strikeouts on the year and is 40 punchouts shy of setting the school record (568, set last season).

ADDITIONAL POSTGAME QUOTES

A&M HEAD COACH Rob Childress:

(on Tech having to go to the pen without Chad Bettis available) "I hate that for (Texas Tech head coach) Dan (Spencer). He's one of my good friends, and there's no doubt about it that Chad Bettis is one of the best pitchers in the league. For him not to have him in the last four games, it's been very tough on him. I felt like Ben (Flora) did an amazing job. I'll be honest with you, I was glad to see him take Ben out of the game, because I thought he did a great job, more than maybe Dan expected him to do. He had a great start for Dan."

(on Matt Juengel) "He's done a nice job for us. A lot of times, when you recruit a high school kid or a junior transfer, it takes them a year to adjust. Matt's done a nice job for us. Being able to come back from a collision earlier in the year where he had a concussion. Just getting back in the box...I know he wasn't hit in the head with a thrown ball, but that collision at first will make you think about it once you step back in the box. But he's done a special job for us, and having he and (Adam Smith) Smitty hitting behind Joe (Patterson), those three guys have provided some punch for us over the last month."

A&M P Michael Wacha:

(on his outing) "I was just focused on throwing strikes and letting my defense play behind me. They did an outstanding job making big play after big play, and I knew if I threw strikes we had a very good chance of winning the game."

(on striking out the side in the first) "I knew I had some pretty good stuff after the first inning. I just knew I had to come out there and keep on pounding that strike zone."

(on pitching at 9 a.m.) "I've pitched in the morning just like that for high school ball. I knew that I just had to get up, get a good breakfast and come out ready to play the early morning game."

A&M 3B Caleb Shofner:

(on getting back on the field) "I knew Michael was going to go out there and give us a great chance, and also I was excited to step foot on the field after the injury and surgery that I had. It was a great day."

(on his key two-out hit) "He threw two breaking balls out of the strike zone, then left a fast ball up. I was able to hit a cue-ball over the head of the second baseman to get that big hit."

(on the team playing well) "We've gotten hot at the right time. The pitchers are stepping up and doing a great job--it all starts on the mound--and getting big hits when it matters. That's helped us get on a roll, and we've just taken off and really embraced that."

A&M DH Matt Juengel:

(on having a strong finish to the season) "Earlier in the year I really didn't feel comfortable at the plate. I was kind of nervous coming in. I did well last year, but JUCO is nothing compared to D-1. I was still a little nervous and felt sometimes that I didn't really belong in the lineup. Finally I found my swing, found my groove and I shot up from there."

TEXAS TECH HEAD COACH DAN SPENCER:

(on his team being able to hang around of late, but losing games near the end) "I think there's some truth in that. Just with who we are and how our personnel lays out, we need to do a better job offensively early in the game. Not to take anything away from Wacha, he did a good job, but we need to put some pressure on them and do some things. We had a chance if we could get some guys on base and run a little bit--that's not his strength yet, holding runners--but we couldn't get on base. Benny did a good job, he kept us in the game. It's imperative that if you want to hang around, the next guy has to come out and do his job.

(on A&M's offense) "The thing about the Aggies, they are built on pitching. When they got that rough spell, Stilson was out and that didn't help them at all. They're an offensive bunch in spurts and they do a good job. If you can keep them to ones in an inning, you're in pretty good shape, but not when they go crooked on you. Texas is different, they are the other example. They are trying to score one an inning and end up with eight, or nine, or six, or whatever it takes. A&M's a little more spurty and spotty. They're going to go two, then zero, zero, three, but it all works out the same. It's just how you play. They're an aggressive bunch and do a good job. You saw today, they bunted when they wanted to bunt and they hit a couple of home runs. They can play the whole way and they have some balance in their lineup. They have some good, veteran hitters in the bottom of the order, so they stretch you out a little bit. They took advantage and got a couple of two-out hits. They did a nice job offensively when they had chances."

TECH RF BONHAM HOUGH:

(on what Wacha was doing) "He was using his fastball on both sides of the plate. He's got a good arm. He was throwing downhill. He was establishing it early. And when he got ahead in the count, you're kind of in a defensive mode, and you could use a fastball up--but he was using the slider down in the dirt a lot. That got a lot of our guys out in front."