No. 11 Texas A&M Opens Nebraska Series with 7-3 Win

Friday, May 13

College Station

6:35 PM

Texas A&M

34-16, 0

Nebraska

28-22, 0

Nebraska

Texas A&M

May 13, 2011 | Baseball

Box Score

By: Texas A&M Athletics

May 13, 2011

#11 Texas A&M 7, Nebraska 3
May 13, 2011 • Olsen Field • College Station, Texas

Boxscore/Play-by-Play

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Nebraska (28-22)	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	1	0	3	10	1
Texas A&M (34-16	0	0	1	0	0	4	0	2	X	7	11	0

Pitching	IP	H	R/ER	BB	SO
WP: Michael Wacha (6-3)	7.0	7	2/2	2	12
LP: Logan Ehlers (1-3)	5.2	6	3/2	3	2

A&M Batting	AB	H	R	RBI	SB
Tyler Naquin	5	3	2	1	0
Krey Bratsen	2	1	0	2	1

COLLEGE STATION, Texas - Sophomore Michael Wacha struck out a career-high 12 in seven strong innings of work on the mound Friday night as the No. 11 Texas A&M baseball team defeated Nebraska 7-3 in the opener of a three-game Big 12 series at Olsen Field.

The victory kept the Aggies (34-16, 16-6 Big 12) on top of the league standings, percentage points ahead of idle Texas. Nebraska, meanwhile, fell to 28-22 on the year with a 7-14 record in league games.

Wacha (6-3) was solid on the mound for the Aggies in the winning effort, scattering seven hits and allowing only two runs during his outing. The Texarkana, Texas, native, who issued just two walks on the night, struck out the side in order during the sixth and added two more punch outs in the seventh to top his previous career high of 11 which he set in his first career start on March 9, 2010, against Penn State.

Texas A&M jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the home half of the third as sophomore outfielder Tyler Naquin singled up the middle to begin the inning. The knock extended his career-best hitting streak to 26 games as he continues his chase of R.J. Englert who set the school record by hitting in 28 straight games in 1972.

Naquin, who went 3-for-5 Friday to raise his Big 12-leading batting average to .418, came around to score the contest's first run on a Nebraska error later in the frame.

The Cornhuskers rallied back to plate a pair of runs off Wacha in the top of the fourth, giving the visitors a 2-1 advantage.

Nebraska starter Logan Ehlers (1-3) got two outs during the bottom of the sixth but allowed a pair of men to reach base and was pulled in favor of reliever Casey Hauptman, who entered the game to face A&M's Andrew Collazo.

Rob Childress [mp3]

Michael Wacha [mp3]

Krey Bratsen [mp3]

Collazo got the best of Hauptman with a two-out single through the left side that plated a run and tied the game at 2-2. The Aggie second baseman was quickly followed by Naquin, who regained the Texas A&M lead with a sharp RBI single to center. Freshman Krey Bratsen continued the two-out rally with a two-run single that gave the Aggies a 5-2 advantage.

Nebraska's Kale Kiser drove in a run with a RBI ground out in the top of the eighth, cutting the A&M lead down to 5-3.

Freshman Charlie Curl, who entered the game as a defensive replacement in the top of the eighth, drove in a pair of Aggie insurance runs in the home half of the frame as he plated two with a single to center.

Sophomore Kyle Martin and senior Nick Fleece each contributed an inning of work out of the Aggie bullpen to secure the win in front of the home crowd of 3,822.

All seven of the Texas A&M runs on the night came with two outs in the inning.

The series continues Saturday with a 2:05 p.m. contest at Olsen Field. The Aggies will sent junior right-hander Ross Stripling (10-2, 2.19 ERA) to the mound to face Nebraska right-hander Tyler Niederklein (7-2, 3.79 ERA).

The Aggies, who wore special camouflage jerseys on Friday night, will again don the camo Saturday as it will be Military Appreciation Day at Olsen Field featuring a fly over and ceremony honoring armed forces veterans.