Texas A&M
17-2
Santa Clara
11-10
Aggies Hold on for 4-3 Win Over Santa Clara
Mar 13, 2004 | Baseball
March 13, 2004
Zach Jackson earned his fifth win and Blake Rampy earned his third save as No. 12 Texas A&M held on to defeat Santa Clara, 4-3, in front of 4,114 fans at Olsen Field.
Jackson (5-0) retired the first 11 men he faced, while striking out eight men and not allowing a walk in six-plus innings of work.
Rampy retired five of the six men he faced after entering the game with a runner on first and one out in the eighth.
With the win, the Aggies improved to 17-2 while Santa Clara dropped to 11-10. A&M will try for the series sweep on Sunday with first pitch scheduled for 1 p.m. at Olsen Field.
The Aggies jumped on Santa Clara starter Kellan McConnell for a run in the bottom of the first to take the initial lead. Erik Schindewolf singled to lead off the inning, advanced to third on a soft double down the right-field line by Cory Patton and scored when the right fielder attempted to throw out Patton at second.
The Aggies added three runs to their lead in the third. Ruggiano doubled home two runs and scored on Andrew Baldwin's two-out single.
The Broncos cut the A&M lead to 4-1 in the top of the sixth with an unearned run. Eric Newton reached on a fielder's choice and scored when left fielder Andrew Baldwin misplayed Shawn Epidendio's line drive.
Santa Clara cut the lead to one run in the top of the seventh to make the score 4-3. Will Thompson's double was followed by a Dustin Realini single. Michael Thompson then singled to score Realini and chase Jackson from the game. A&M reliever Jason Meyer recorded three outs in the inning to end the threat.
Meyer struck out eh first men he faced in the eighth, before giving way to Rampy after hitting a man.
McConnell settled in after allowing the early runs and pitched seven solid innings. He fanned eight Texas A&M batters - seven between the fourth and seventh innings.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Jackson, Zach (5-0)
L: McConnell, Kellan (1-3)
S: Rampy, Blake (3)
Batting:
2B: Thompson, Will 1
RBI: Thompson, Michael 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Thompson, Will 1 ; Realini, Dustin 1 ; Newton, Eric 1
HBP: Thompson, Will 1
Batting:
2B: Patton, Cory 1 ; Ruggiano, Justin 1
RBI: Ruggiano, Justin 2 ; Baldwin, Andrew 1
SH: Mavroulis, Coby 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Schindewolf, Erik 1 ; Pennington, Cliff 1 ; Patton, Cory 1 ; Ruggiano, Justin 1
SB: Pennington, Cliff 1
HBP: Infante, John 1
