Stephen F. Austin
Texas A&M
Aggies Get Walkoff Win Over `Jacks
4/2/2008 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 2, 2008
COLLEGE STATION, Texas - Jeremy Tamez pitched a career-best 4.2 innings in relief, but Luke Anders hit a two-out RBI single in the bottom of the ninth to give the Texas A&M Aggies a 5-4 win over SFA at Olsen Field on Wednesday.
The `Jacks (11-15, 1-7 SLC) bullpen shut out the Aggie lineup for four consecutive innings before allowing the final run in the ninth. Texas A&M (23-6, 6-3 Big 12) only plated two earned runs on the afternoon as SFA nearly claimed its first-ever win over the Aggies.
Kyle Watson was the hard-luck loser to go to 0-1 on the year, while Travis Starling moved to 4-0 with the win.
Texas A&M was on the board after only two batters in the first inning as the unearned-run bug struck the Lumberjack pitching staff once again. After Kyle Colligan led off with a sharp single and stole second base, SFA centerfielder Zach Gardner dropped a fly ball off the bat of Blake Stouffer that allowed Colligan to come home and make it 1-0 Aggies.
SFA was right there to answer in the bottom half, though, as Kevin Crabtree led off with a single to left off of Aggie starter Shane Minks and picked up his ninth stolen base of the year two pitches later. Sean Meyers then stayed perfect for the series, following his 2-for-2 performance on Tuesday with a double into the left-field corner to put runners on second and third with nobody out. The `Jacks then grabbed a 2-1 lead after each of them to cross the plate on consecutive groundouts by Justin Roland and Alex Moshier.
Just half an inning later, the Aggies were able to knot it back up only two batters into the inning once again. Brian Ruggiano singled off of Kevin Thomas and got help from the `Jacks starter when he threw wildly to first base trying to keep Ruggiano close, but instead allowed him to advance all the way to third. Ruggiano then scored one batter later when Moshier allowed a ball four to Luke Anders to carom off his glove for a passed ball.
One inning later the Aggies retook the lead 3-2, with Ruggiano delivering the big hit of the inning, a two-out single to left field that drove in Dane Carter.
The `Jacks, however, were not deterred and came right back in the bottom half of the inning to take the lead back themselves. Meyers was plunked by Minks to start the rally and Roland followed him by picking up his second RBI of the day with a double just inside the third-base bag. Kai Kirby then came through with the first of his two hits on the day to put the `Jacks back in front 4-3, dropping the first pitch from Minks in front of Ben Feltner in left field for a base hit.
Jeremy Tamez then came on to relieve Thomas after a three-inning outing, and retired the first two Aggies he faced before Blake Stouffer liked what he saw on the first pitch from the freshman and smashed his second home run of the season just over the outstretched glove of Kirby in right field to knot the score for the fourth time at four apiece.
One inning later Darby Brown led off with a first-pitch double to left-center field and made it to third two batters later on a passed ball. Feltner then thought he had the go-ahead RBI when he shot a grounder up the middle, but shortstop Jeff Brewer made a sliding stop behind the bag and his spinning throw was in time to keep things tied up.
Tamez only had one other real scare in his 4.2-inning outing and it was in the bottom of the eighth when Anders opened up the stanza with his first hit of the day, a double to the left-center field gap. Feltner moved him to third with a sacrifice bunt, but Anders got caught too far off of third base by Moshier to seemingly end the threat; however, Tamez went on to walk Brooks Raley and Donnie Watson decided to lift the freshman after his career-long outing. Richard Folmer entered and immediately walked Colligan but got Stouffer to ground out to Roland for the final out.
Kyle Watson then came on to toss the final frame after Travis Starling pitched a scoreless ninth for the Aggies. Watson retired the first two hitters he saw, but the ninth inning trouble started when Brown hit a soft grounder towards third that forced Sean Meyers to charge and make a running throw that drew Jeffrey Kello off the bag and allowed Brown to reach. The error was followed by a single from Ruggiano, and only one batter Anders made clean his base-running quandary from the previous inning with a single that took a late Aggie hop into the outfield to score pinch runner Brodie Greene for the game-winning run.
The `Jacks get back into conference play this weekend when they travel to Conway, Ark., for a three-game series with Central Arkansas. The first game is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. and can be heard live on KSFA 860 AM.
-SFA-
