Texas A&M
40-19
Lamar
41-15
Aggies Cruise to 14-3 Win over Lamar in NCAA Regional Opener
Jun 05, 2004 | Baseball
June 05, 2004
In a game delayed after four-complete innings on Friday and finished on Saturday morning, No. 14 Texas A&M pounded 14 hits to defeat No. 22 Lamar, 14-3, in front of a stadium-record 5,076 fans at Reckling Park.
Cliff Pennington led the charge going 4-for-5 with three RBI and four runs scored. John Infante contributed with three hits and an RBI while Austin Boggs drove in three runs with a pair of hits.
With the win, the Aggies improved to 40-19 while Lamar dropped to 41-15. More importantly, the Aggies advanced into the winner's bracket of the tournament and will play Texas Southern later this afternoon.
The Aggies touched Lamar starting pitcher Kyle Stutes (10-2) for a pair of runs in the bottom of the first to take the early lead. With one out, Pennington blooped a double to right and scored when Boggs blasted a triple off the top of the wall in left center. Boggs trotted home on a sacrifice fly by Cory Patton.
Patton doubled into right center to score Pennington, who led off the bottom of the third with a walk and a stolen base. The double chased Stutes from the game. Reliever William Delage fanned Coby Mavroulis and Patton was thrown out trying to score on a single by Craig Stinson to end the inning.
The Aggies scored three unearned runs in the bottom of the fourth to increase their lead to 6-0. Justin Ruggiano singled and Travis Bartek and Erik Schindewolf each walked to load the bases. With two outs, Boggs nubbed a ball down the third base line. Delage fielded the bunt and threw the ball down the rightfield line, allowing two runs to score. After Patton was intentionally walked, Mavroulis drew a full-count walk to plate Schindewolf.
The teams then endured a 40 minute rain delay, before lightning and further rain threats caused officials to suspend the game at 11 p.m.
When play resumed on Saturday morning, Texas A&M replaced starter Jason Meyer with Dan Donaldson.
Meyer threw four scoreless frames and recorded four strikeouts in that span.
Lamar began the fifth inning with Scott Vander Weg on the mound.
The Aggies stretched their lead to 7-0 in the bottom of the sixth. Pennington belted a one-out single and stole his second base of the game, before scoring on a Boggs single.
After Donaldson threw two scoreless innings, Lamar erupted for three runs in the top of the seventh to cut the A&M lead to four runs. A solo homer by Brett Winn and a two-run shot by Michael Ambort did the damage.
A&M blew the game open in the bottom of the seventh when they scored four runs to make the score 11-3. John Infante singled, moved to second on a perfectly executed sacrifice bunt by pinch hitter Todd Stroud and scored on a single by Bartek. After Schindewolf walked, Pennington collected his third hit of the day to score Bartek and move Schindewolf to third. An attempted throw to gun down Pennington, who was trying to steal second, was deflected off the glove of Vander Weg on the mound, allowing Schindewolf to score and Pennington to move to third. Pennington later scored on a sacrifice fly by Boggs.
The Aggies added three more runs in the eighth to put the game out of reach. The big blow of the inning was a two-run single by Pennington.
Donaldson (1-1) earned the win, pitching three solid innings in relief. Robert Ray and Kyle Nicholson each tossed a scoreless inning of relief.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Donaldson, Dan (1-1)
L: Stutes, K. (10-2)
Batting:
2B: Craigen, R. 1
HR: Winn, B. 1 ; Ambort, M. 1
RBI: Winn, B. 1 ; Ambort, M. 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Winn, B. 1 ; Gray, J. 1 ; Ambort, M. 1
HBP: Cantu, A. 1 ; Finan, R. 1
Batting:
2B: Pennington, Cliff 1 ; Patton, Cory 1 ; Infante, John 1
3B: Boggs, Austin 1
RBI: Pennington, Cliff 3 ; Boggs, Austin 3 ; Patton, Cory 2 ; Mavroulis, Coby 1 ; Infante, John 1 ; Bartek, Travis 1
SH: Stroud, Todd 1
SF: Boggs, Austin 1 ; Patton, Cory 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Schindewolf, Erik 2 ; Pennington, Cliff 4 ; Boggs, Austin 1 ; Mavroulis, Coby 1 ; Infante, John 2 ; Ruggiano, Justin 1 ; Bartek, Travis 3
SB: Pennington, Cliff 3
