Baylor Evens Series with 12-1 Win

Saturday, April 16

College Station

6:35 PM

Texas A&M

25-10, 0

Baylor

20-16, 0

Baylor

Texas A&M

Apr 16, 2011 | Baseball

Box Score

By: Texas A&M Athletics

April 16, 2011

Baylor 12, #5 Texas A&M 1
April 16, 2011 • Olsen Field • College Station, Texas

Boxscore/Play-by-Play

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Baylor (20-16)	0	2	2	0	0	0	1	5	2	12	14	0
Texas A&M (25-10)	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	5	0

Pitching	IP	H	R/ER	BB	SO
WP: Trent Blank (3-1)	5.1	4	1/1	4	0
LP: Michael Wacha (4-2)	6.1	9	5/5	3	4

A&M Batting	AB	H	R	RBI	BB
Adam Smith	2	1	0	1	1
Matt Juengel	2	1	1	0	1

COLLEGE STATION, Texas - The usually steady Texas A&M pitching staff had a rare off night Saturday at Olsen Field as the No. 5 Aggies fell to visiting Baylor by a score of 12-1 in front of the season's largest home crowd of 7,409 fans.

Despite the loss, the Aggies (25-10; 10-4 Big 12) remained in a tie atop the Big 12 standings with Texas, which lost to Texas Tech in Austin earlier in the day.

Prior to the game, Texas A&M honored the late Tom Chandler, the former head coach who led the Aggie baseball program from 1959 to 1984. A graphic of his No. 23 jersey was placed in a position of recognition on the outfield wall down the left field line.

"About the best thing that happened tonight was recognizing Tom Chandler and his family; it was nice to have them here for that," Texas A&M head coach Rob Childress said. "Once the game started the whole story was Baylor, they did everything right. They pitched well, played great defense and got big hits. They got after us in every phase of the game, give them all the credit."

Baylor designated hitter Dan Evatt highlighted the Bears' outstanding offensive night as the junior went 2-for-3 at the plate with a pair of home runs and five RBI.

After the two teams traded 1-2-3 frames in the first inning, the Bears got on the board during the top of the second off Texas A&M starter Michael Wacha (4-2). Following a lead-off single by right Cal Towey, Evatt connected on his first home run, a towering shot over the left field wall. The long ball was the first allowed by Wacha this season.

The Aggies tried to answer in the home half of the inning, but after loading the bases they failed to push across any runs.

Baylor (20-16, 6-8 Big 12), which outhit the Aggies 14 to 5 on the night, went back to work in the top of the third as it plated two more runs that came via a balk called against Wacha and an RBI triple.

Junior third baseman Adam Smith extended his season-high hitting streak to six games in the bottom of the fourth as he singled off the third baseman's glove to plate the lone A&M run of the night.

Back-to-back doubles put another Baylor run on the board in the top of the seventh as the visitors extended their lead to 5-1.

Wacha shook off some of his early troubles and pitched into the seventh inning for the Aggies, exiting after allowing five runs in 6.2 innings of work.

The long ball was the catalysis that broke the game open for the Bears in the eighth inning as they got a two-run home run by left fielder Logan Vick and a three-run shot by Evatt.

A pair of Baylor runs also came home in the top of the ninth to give the game its final score.

Sophomore Tyler Naquin doubled in the eighth inning to extend his career-high hitting streak to 11 games, which is also the longest by an Aggie this season.

"Not only was it Tom Chandler's night, it was parents weekend and we had a great crowd here tonight so for us to not play well was very disappointing," Childress added. "I know our guys wanted to play well and expected to play well, but it just didn't happen and Baylor had a lot to do with that."

The series will be decided in Sunday's rubber match which will begin at 1:05 p.m. from Olsen Field. Junior right-hander Ross Stripling (6-2, 2.93) will take the mound for the Aggies. Baylor has yet to announce a starting pitcher for the contest.