Texas A&M
15-2
Houston
5-10
Aggies Rally to Beat Houston
Mar 09, 2004 | Baseball
March 09, 2004
Texas A&M scored four runs in the top of the eighth and Blake Rampy struck out two hitters with runners on second and third in the bottom of the ninth to lead the No. 12 Aggies past Houston, 8-7, in front of 2,988 fans at Cougar Field.
Heading into the top of the eight and trailing 7-4, Cory Patton and Coby Mavroulis walked to start the inning. Justin Ruggiano delivered an infield single to load the bases and Austin Boggs single through the right side to cut the Houston lead to one run.
John Infante grounded out to plate Ruggiano with the tying run and Andrew Baldwin flied out to right to score Boggs and give the Aggies the lead.
Jason Meyer (4-0) retired the side in the eighth but ran into trouble in the ninth. With one out Travis Tully and Patrick Breen singled and Breen stole second. Rampy replaced Meyer and fanned the Cougars' three and four-hole hitters to end the threat and the game.
Rampy earned his second save of the season.
With the win, the Aggies improved to 15-2 while Houston dropped to 5-10.
The Aggies took the early lead in the top of the first. Erik Schindewolf walked on four pitches from Houston starter Shea Hancock. He advanced to second on a failed pickoff attempt and moved to third on a wild pitch. Cory Patton one-hopped a line drive to second base to plate the game's first run.
Baldwin hit his first home run of the season - a two-out solo shot over the right field wall in the top of the second - to stretch the A&M lead to 2-0.
An RBI single by Brett Cooley in the bottom of the third off A&M starter Kyle Marlatt cut the A&M lead in half.
Houston scored an unearned run in the bottom of the fifth to knot the game at two. Jake Stewart reached on a fielding error by Cliff Pennington at shortstop and moved to third on a single to right by Kevin Roberts. Stewart trotted home when Travis Tully grounded into a double play.
After Baldwin's homer in the second, Hancock retired the next 11 men he faced before Pennington singled with one out in the sixth. Patton walked and Coby Mavroulis singled to push Pennington across. With two outs, Boggs walked to load the bases and UH reliever Brandon Roznovsky balked to force Patton home and make the score 4-2.
The Cougars exploded for five runs in the bottom of the sixth to take their first lead of the game, 7-4. Houston used five consecutive hits to score the runs. The final two hits of the inning were charged to Meyer and four of the five runs were charged to Marlatt.
Marlatt lasted 5.1 innings, allowing six runs - five earned - on nine hits and did not figure in the decision.
The Aggies return to action this Friday, March 12, when they host Santa Clara in the first game of a three-game set. First pitch is set for 7 p.m.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Meyer, Jason (4-0)
L: Roberts, Kevin (0-2)
S: Rampy, Blake (2)
Batting:
HR: Baldwin, Andrew 1
RBI: Patton, Cory 1 ; Mavroulis, Coby 1 ; Boggs, Austin 2 ; Infante, John 1 ; Baldwin, Andrew 2
SF: Baldwin, Andrew 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Schindewolf, Erik 1 ; Pennington, Cliff 1 ; Patton, Cory 2 ; Mavroulis, Coby 1 ; Ruggiano, Justin 1 ; Boggs, Austin 1 ; Baldwin, Andrew 1
SB: Pennington, Cliff 1
CS: Baldwin, Andrew 1
Batting:
2B: Stewart, Jake 1
3B: Bott, Nick 1
RBI: Cooley, Brett 1 ; Johnson, Rob 1 ; Bott, Nick 2 ; Stewart, Jake 1 ; Roberts, Kevin 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Bruce, Cole 1 ; Musslewhite, Stuart 1 ; Johnson, Rob 1 ; Bott, Nick 1 ; Stewart, Jake 2 ; Roberts, Kevin 1
SB: Breen, Patrick 1 ; Johnson, Rob 1
CS: Tully, Travis 1 ; Roberts, Kevin 1
