Olsen magic appeared Tuesday night for No. 7 Texas A&M.
Trailing 1-0 in the bottom of the sixth inning, the Aggies came through against Stephen F. Austin, scoring two runs to take a 2-1 lead. A&M held on for win No. 8, improving its record to 8-2.
The lineup was a little different for the Aggies. Junior catcher Joe Patterson, sophomore designated hitter Brett Parsons and freshman third baseman Scott Arthur started in place of A&M’s regular lineup of sophomores Kevin Gonzalez, Nick Fleece and Caleb Shofner in the same positions.
The trio combined for three hits in the game.
“I’m proud of those guys,” said A&M Head Coach Rob Childress. “They come ready to play.”
Junior right-handed pitcher Clayton Ehlert started the game for the Aggies. Ehlert was a weekend starter in 2008, but has been replaced by junior Alex Wilson.
Ehlert threw seven innings, holding the Lumberjacks to one run and five hits while striking out a career-high nine batters.
“I’m not a big strikeout guy, so it feels good,” Ehlert said. “I wanted to get out there and just throw strikes. I was working both sides of the plate with my fastball.”
A&M fell behind early in the fourth inning when Ehlert gave up a home run over the right field wall to Lumberjacks’ senior designated hitter Sean Meyers. Meyers leads the team with a .469 batting average.
Despite the home run, Childress said Ehlert had all four of his pitches working against Stephen F. Austin.
The sixth inning has been a decisive inning for A&M in 2009.
Junior second baseman Brodie Greene kept the magic alive against the Lumberjacks when he hit a lead off home run over the left-center field wall.
“I just put a good swing on it and Mother Nature helped me out,” Greene said about his game-tying home run.
Sophomore right fielder Brooks Raley walked and stole a base during the next at bat. Raley was driven home when Parsons hit a double down the right field line. Freshman shortstop Adam Smith struck out to end the inning with the Aggies leading 2-1.
With the lead, the Aggies escaped two tight situations at the end of the game. In the top of the eighth inning with one out, Childress called on junior closer Travis Starling to finish the game. Starling struck out the final two batters, leaving the bases loaded.
Starling got himself in a jam in the top of the ninth inning. After getting two quick outs, Starling loaded the bases on a walk, a single and another walk. After a quick visit from Childress, Starling got the final batter to fly out for the win.
“I need to do a better job with not letting people on base,” Starling said. “I’m disappointed in that.”