Baylor
Texas A&M
Whew ... Bears Hold Off No. 9 Aggies 8-7
3/19/2004 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 19, 2004
COLLEGE STATION, Texas - Abe Woody induced a ground-ball double play with two on and one out in the bottom of the ninth as Baylor defeated No. 9 Texas A&M 8-7 here Friday night in one of the more dramatic victories in Baylor baseball history. It was the Big 12 Conference opener for both teams.
Baylor (7-13, 1-0) led 8-4 entering the ninth, but a passed ball with runners at second and third, and a Cory Patton two-run home run made things interesting at Oslen Field. Texas A&M (20-3, 0-1) then put the winning run on base and the tying run in scoring position with consecutive singles.
That set the stage for the double play, which came off the bat of Justin Ruggiano and found the glove of Baylor second baseman Drew Sutton, who flipped to Kyle Reynolds to start the twin-killing.
"I don't know what this will do for us, but I know what it could have done to us," Baylor head coach Steve Smith said after earning career victory No. 350, all coming at Baylor.
The last-inning drama overshadowed a fine pitching performance from Baylor starter Sean Walker. The junior right-hander lasted 7.2 innings and allowed four runs, two earned, on five hits with two strikeouts. It was Walker's second straight victory at Olsen Field after tossing a complete game against the Aggies last season. Woody faced only Ruggiano and earned his first save of the season.
Texas A&M got on the board first with a run on one hit and a pair of Baylor errors in the bottom of the first. The defensive miscues did not stop in the first frame as the Bears committed a season-high five errors on the night, stopping a streak of 18 consecutive games with two or fewer errors.
Baylor overcame the deficit and took control of the momentum with a five-spot in the top of the third. Josh Ford got things started with a two-run home run off the top of the billboard beyond the 375 sign in left-center. It was Ford's third home run of the season, all coming in the last two games. That sparked a streak of six consecutive hits for the Bears, including an RBI double by Reid Brees and a Jared Clements two-run double.
The Aggies pulled to within one with a pair of runs on three hits and a Baylor error in the bottom of the fourth, but the Bears quickly answered with solo runs in the fifth and sixth innings. Mike Pankratz, who two years ago was a member of the Texas A&M football team, led off the fifth with his first career home run.
Kevin Sevigny, a defensive replacement in centerfield for the Bears to start the bottom of the eighth, provided an insurance run in the top of the ninth with a two-strike, two-out RBI single to shallow right. The Bears redeemed that insurance in the bottom of the ninth, posting their first one-run game since Cory VanAllen's no-hitter in the season's third game. It snapped a streak of eight consecutive one-run losses for the Bears.
Baylor pounded 18 hits, most this season and a high in conference play since the series opener at Oklahoma State last April (20 hits). Six of nine starters had at least two hits, and every batter that went to the plate had at least one. Ford and Pankratz both turned in three-hit nights.
The series now shifts to Baylor Ballpark for games two and three. Saturday's first pitch is set for 6 p.m. with Baylor's Mark McCormick (1-2) facing Texas A&M's Justin Moore (3-0).
