Texas A&M broke a two game losing streak on Tuesday by defeating the University of Texas – San Antonio 5-4. It was the Aggies’ thirteenth consecutive midweek victory with their last loss coming on April 18, 2006 against Houston.
“Tonight was all about toughness,” A&M Head Coach Rob Childress said. “I’m very proud of our team, as proud as I’ve been all year.”
The Aggies, who began a seven game road trip this past weekend, have gone 2-2 while away and will take to the road again this coming weekend to take on Kansas.
The Roadrunners took an early 3-0 lead by scoring all three runs in the third inning with three base hits, a double, and one walk.
Down 3-0, A&M made a valiant effort to rally in the fifth inning, scoring two runs after the first two batters were hit by the pitcher. Behind the RBIs were shortstop Jose Duran and first baseman Darby Brown. However the Aggies would have to wait to take the lead as the brief rally ended on a first pitch groundout.
Sophomore Scott Migl started the game for A&M. Migl struggled on the mound, only lasting the first three innings while giving up all three of UTSA’s runs. Junior Kyle Thebeau relieved Migl in the fourth and shutdown the Roadrunner offense.
“Kyle Thebeau is the reason we won the game,” Childress said. “He came in and put a stop to things. This was the first time in his career that he came in and wasn’t sharp but was able to get it together and have an incredible outing.”
The Aggies struck again in the seventh inning to tie the game at 3-3 when Duran scored from second on right fielder Nick Fleece’s single to centerfield.
Later in the inning with Fleece and designated hitter Luke Anders on base with two outs, leftfielder Brian Ruggiano hit a ball to third base. The Roadrunners made a costly error on a bad throw to first that allowed Fleece to score and A&M took a 4-3 lead. The inning ended when second baseman Blake Stouffer lined out to third.
Aggie closer Travis Starling relieved Thebeau in the eighth inning with one out and a man on second. Using his knuckle-curve ball, Starling forced a groundout for the second out, but the man on second, Roadrunner designated hitter Tim Palinscar, advanced to third.
UTSA leftfielder Jose Hernandez then hit a two out single to right field to score Palinscar, tying the game at 4-4. The Roadrunners failed to pick up another run, as Starling forced another groundout, sending the game to the ninth inning.
First baseman Darby Brown led off the inning with a single into left field. Two outs later, Brown stole second and Ben Feltner was sent in to pinch run. Ruggiano then hit a two out RBI single to left field to score Feltner and give the Aggies a 5-4 lead.
Starling finished the game in the bottom of the ninth, walking one, striking out another, and forcing a pop up and a fly out. With the win the Aggies continued a two game streak over UTSA, improving to 18-6 on the season.
“This is the biggest win for us by far to this point in the year,” Childress said. “We didn’t get off to a very good start, but the bottom line is we got big hits when we needed them and we didn’t crack late in the game.”
A&M continues Big 12 conference play on Friday when they take on Kansas in Lawrence, Kansas. The Aggies were swept by the Jayhawks the last time they took the trip north in 2006.
The series will finish a seven game road trip. The last time the Aggies played seven consecutive games on the road was when they went 5-2 against Kansas State, Oklahoma, and Rice in 2003.