Stilson's Complete Game Highlights 11-2 Win Over No. 15 OSU

Friday, April 22

College Station

6:35 PM

Texas A&M

27-11, 12-4

Oklahoma State

28-10, 10-6

Oklahoma State

Texas A&M

Apr 22, 2011 | Baseball

Box Score

By: Texas A&M Athletics

April 22, 2011

#6 Texas A&M 11, #15 Oklahoma State 2
April 22, 2011 • Olsen Field • College Station, Texas

Boxscore/Play-by-Play

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Oklahoma St. (28-10)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	2	4	0
Texas A&M (27-11)	1	3	1	0	4	0	0	2	X	11	13	1

Pitching	IP	H	R/ER	BB	SO
WP: John Stilson (4-1)	9.0	4	2/0	0	12
LP: Mike Strong (3-1)	3.1	5	5/4	2	2

A&M Batting	AB	H	R	RBI	XBH
Krey Bratsen	4	3	1	2	3B
Adam Smith	5	3	3	0	2B
Charlie Curl	3	2	0	3	2B(2)

COLLEGE STATION, Texas - Junior pitcher John Stilson racked up a career-high 12 strikeouts and the Aggie bats scored early and often Friday night at Olsen Field as the No. 6 Texas A&M baseball team began a critical Big 12 series with an 11-2 victory over No. 15 Oklahoma State.

"Stilson had a great performance tonight," Texas A&M head coach Rob Childress said. "He was sharp with all four pitches from the word go and had just an amazing outing ... That was without question his best start of the season. Against that offense and the way they've been swinging the bats, particularly last weekend against a good Oklahoma pitching staff; it was a pretty impressive performance."

Stilson (4-1) retired the first 14 batters he faced on the night and carried a perfect game into the fifth inning before a single by OSU third baseman Mark Ginther broke up the no-hit bid. The Texarkana, Texas, native was undeterred by the single and retired nine straight following the hit.

The shutout bid came to an end in the top of the ninth when Stilson induced a two-out ground ball that was muffed on the throw to first base. The miscue by the Aggie defense allowed the Cowboys to prolong the inning and score a pair of unearned runs.

The performance was the first complete game of Stilson's career and tied his longest outing of the season with a nine-inning effort in an extra-inning win over Gonzaga on Feb. 15. During his 12-strikeout performance on Friday, the right-hander walked none and scattered just four hits to lower his season ERA to 1.12.

On top of Stilson's performance, the Aggie offense got on track and featured four players with multi-hit games.

"Tonight we played extremely well in all phases of the game," Childress added. "It was good to see what we did offensively. There were a lot of guys who got big hits for us. Adam Smith and Charlie Curl had great nights and you don't score 11 runs against their pitching unless you have several guys have good nights at the plate."

The Aggies jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning as sophomore right fielder Tyler Naquin set the table by singling to lead off the home half of the frame. The base knock extended his career-best hitting streak to 14 games and put the Spring, Texas, native in a position to come home with the first run of the game on a ground out by Jacob House.

The rough start continued for OSU starter Mike Strong (3-1) in the second inning as the Aggies pushed across three more runs in the frame. Sacrifice flies from senior shortstop Kenny Jackson and Naquin combined with an RBI single by freshman centerfielder Krey Bratsen extended the lead to 4-0.

Strong would last only 3.1 innings as he allowed five runs on six hits and took the loss.

Junior third baseman Adam Smith, who went 3-for-5 with three runs scored in the contest, sparked the A&M offense in the third inning as the Aggies scored for the third straight inning to begin the game. The Spring, Texas, native singled to lead off the frame and after stealing both second and third base came across to score on a sac fly by senior catcher Kevin Gonzalez.

Texas A&M broke the game open in the bottom of the fifth inning as it plated four more runs to build a 9-0 advantage. With a runner on and one out in the frame, Smith doubled to put a pair of Aggies in scoring position at second and third. Oklahoma State elected to intentionally walk Gonzalez to set up the possibility of an inning-ending double play.

The move backfired; however, as OSU reliever Andrew Heck hit Jackson in the next at bat to bring home a run and leave the bases loaded for Charlie Curl. The Aggie second baseman promptly unloaded the bases with his second double of the night, a two-bagger down the left field line.

A Bratsen triple in the eighth plated another A&M run and allowed the freshman to scamper home later in the inning on a passed ball.

The two unearned runs in the ninth allowed Oklahoma State to avoid being shutout for the first time this season.

"It's just one game and we didn't win the series by playing tonight," Childress said. "I'm sure they are going to come out ready to go tomorrow."

The series resumes Saturday with a 2:05 p.m. contest at Olsen Field. The Aggies will send sophomore righty Michael Wacha (4-2, 1.81 ERA) to the mound against OSU right-hander Brad Propst (6-2, 2.01 ERA). Prior to the game, Texas A&M baseball will honor former Aggie baseball player and major league great Wally Moon.