The 2011 season was a memorable one for Texas A&M baseball as the Aggies claimed both the Big 12 regular season and tournament championships while advancing to the College World Series for the first time since 1999.
As construction crews work around the clock putting the finishing touches on a massive renovation project that will return Olsen Field at Blue Bell Park to the top of the list of most outstanding, state-of-the-art collegiate baseball facilities in the country, we look back at the most memorable moments of the 2011 campaign.
While many fans will look back at season-long excellence on the field such as Tyler Naquin's amazing 27-game hitting streak or Ross Stripling's nation-leading 14 victories on the mound, we need your help to select the most outstanding single game performance of the past season. Please vote on your choice and let us know why by sending a tweet to @Aggie_Baseball using the hash tag #OlsenMagic2011 and we'll put some of the best responses here on AggieAthletics.com. If a performance we didn't select stood out to you let us know what you think should be considered.
Naquin Hits for the Cycle (March 6 vs. Houston)
The first flash of greatness in what became an All-American campaign for sophomore right fielder Tyler Naquin came during the season's first month as the Aggies traveled down to Houston's Minute Maid Park for the 2011 Houston College Classic.
After A&M had dropped a pair of one-run games to begin play at the tournament, the Aggies needed someone to step forward to get them back on the right track. Naquin answered the bell, sparking the offense and driving in the contest's opening run with an RBI double during the top of the first. The Spring, Texas, native came up during the next inning and made the score 4-0 Aggies with a two-run triple to right center. Naquin's third at bat came in the top of the fourth and resulted in a ground out, but during the top of the sixth he connected on his first home run of the season, a two-run shot into the right field bleachers.
Needing just a single to complete the first cycle by an Aggie since Blake Stouffer in 2007, Naquin singled sharply to left field on a 2-2 pitch with two outs in the seventh to complete one of baseball's rarest feats.
The All-American finished 4-for-6 at the plate with two runs scored and a season-best six RBI against the Cougars.
Stripling Blanks the 'Horns to Clinch Share of the Big 12 Title (May 21 at Texas)
Entering the regular season's final weekend the Aggies stood on the brink of a Big 12 Championship, but standing in their way was their arch nemesis the Texas Longhorns.
After the fourth-ranked Longhorns were able to squeak past the Aggies in close contests during the first two games of the series, Texas A&M sat one game back of Texas with just one game to play in the 2011 regular season. Enter junior pitcher Ross Stripling, who had won his previous six starts and was in the midst of fashioning his own All-America campaign.
The Southlake, Texas, native baffled the Texas hitters all evening in a televised contest as he threw his third of four complete games on the season and just the third complete-game shutout by an Aggie since 2005. Stripling retired the final 14 men he faced and did not allow a runner past first base after the first inning, helping the Aggies claim their first Big 12 regular season title since 2008.
Only four Longhorn batters where able to collect hits off the right-hander, who struck out six and walked none during his 105-pitch effort.
Aggies Win the Big 12 Tournament on Collazo's Walk-Off Homer (May 29 vs. Missouri)
Not content with a Big 12 Regular Season Championship, the Aggies got on a roll during the league's post season tournament at Oklahoma City's Bricktown Ballpark but needed a big hit from senior second baseman Andrew Collazo to claim the Big 12 Championship for the second year in a row.
Texas A&M trailed in all three of their first three games of Big 12 Championship but rallied to defeat Texas Tech and Kansas State twice to earn a title game match-up with Missouri. However, it appeared the Aggies' comeback magic had run out as the Tigers raced out to a 6-0 lead after two innings.
Aided in great part by Collazo's 3-for-5 effort with three runs scored, the Aggies roared back to take a 8-7 lead heading into the ninth inning, but the scrappy Tigers pushed across two runs to take a 9-8 advantage before a pinch hit, RBI single in the bottom of the frame tied the game at 9-9 and forced extra innings.
The Paterson, N.J., native provided the tournament's biggest hit during the bottom of the 10th as with two outs in the frame he connected on a 1-2 curveball from Missouri reliever Dusty Ross, driving the pitch over the wall in left field for his first long ball of the season. The Aggie second baseman was mobbed at home plate by his teammates and was shortly after named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player.
The dramatic ending echoed the final moments of the 2010 Big 12 Championship when the Aggies won the title game over Baylor on a 10th-inning, walk-off home run by shortstop Brodie Greene, which landed in the almost identical spot as Collazo's walk-off shot.
Bratsen's Big Hit Lifts Aggies to Regional Championship (June 7 vs Arizona)
Texas A&M's run to Omaha, Neb., and the College World Series almost never made it out of College Station but a clutch hit by freshman centerfielder Krey Bratsen sparked the Aggies to a 3-0 victory over No. 22 Arizona during the finale of the NCAA College Station Regional at Olsen Field.
The Aggies had little trouble notching victories over Wright State and Seton Hall during their first two games at the regional, but the Wildcats defeated Texas A&M 7-4 to force a winner-take-all elimination game.
Following a rain-out that pushed the second and deciding game between the Aggies and Wildcats back a day, the two squads faced off in a game which developed into a pitcher's duel between A&M's Michael Wacha and UA's Kurt Heyer.
Neither team could break the ice on the scoreboard leaving fans on the edge of their seats, knowing just one big hit could be the knock-out blow in the tightly-contested affair. With two outs in the bottom of the eighth of a still scoreless game, Tyler Naquin doubled to right center and was in danger of becoming yet another Aggie runner stranded on base, but Bratsen had other ideas.
The big hit to break the stalemate came off the bat of the Bryan, Texas, native as he singled sharply back up the middle off Heyer to score Naquin with what would eventually prove to be the game-winning run. Following Bratsen's big hit, the A&M batters were able to relax a bit at the plate and Jacob House added a two-run double in the frame to help the Aggies claim their third NCAA Regional Championship under head coach Rob Childress.
Wacha Pitches Texas A&M to the College World Series (June 13 at Florida State)
Sophomore pitcher Michael Wacha was on the hill for many of the Aggies' biggest games during the 2011 season but the All-American's biggest performance of the year came on June 13 during an elimination game with Texas A&M on the brink of its first appearance in the College World Series since 1999.
Standing in Wacha and the Aggies' way was a powerful Florida State lineup, which had defeated the Aggies 23-9 the day before, and a fired-up fan base at the hostile environment of FSU's Dick Howser Stadium.
The Aggie right-hander, working on short rest for a second-straight postseason start was dominant, working into the eighth inning while holding the hot-hitting Seminoles to just two runs on three hits. Wacha racked up eight strikeouts in the 129-pitch effort, leaving everything he had on the field for the Aggies, who finished up the win with dog pile after punching their ticket to college baseball's Promised Land.