Pieces fall into place for A&M
It’s not like Texas A&M’s 2008 baseball team wanted to be like the defensive whiz who burns his glove following a rash of errors, or like the hitter who switches walk-up music in the midst of a slump.
But the Aggies did go through a ritual that officially moved them beyond 2007, when they produced the nation’s biggest one-year turnaround and nearly strode into the College World Series:
It was a four-game split in their season-opening series at home against Northern Colorado — a club that’s now 17-31.
“You try to give (Kevin) Smallcomb and those guys credit,” A&M coach Rob Childress said of the Bears’ coach and club, “but I was pretty mad.”
A&M, which went from 25 wins in 2006 to 48 and a NCAA super regional appearance last year, has channeled that emotion to put together an even bigger season under their third-year coach.
The first team in the nation to reach 40 wins, the 41-8 Aggies come to Nebraska this weekend riding a record 15-game winning streak in Big 12 play and on the cusp of winning their first conference regular-season championship since 1999.
Taking this weekend’s series against the second-place Huskers in a stadium Childress called home for eight years could clinch that desired goal. With six league contests remaining, the Aggies hold a 2½-game lead over NU and are four up on Oklahoma State.
“We expected to have a good year. … To have a great year, some things have got to happen,” Childress said. “No. 1 you’ve got to hold on to a high draft pick and have a senior-(to-be from the previous team) that was drafted pretty good and wants to come back. Then, you need to have a couple guys come out of nowhere, and get other guys to have career years.”
A&M — which like Nebraska is ranked as high as No. 5 but is above the Huskers in three of the four major listings — has received all of that, and more.
* Right-handed freshman pitcher Barret Loux, a 24th-round draft pick, has settled into the No. 2 weekend slot and has a 4-1 record.
* Second baseman Blake Stouffer and left fielder Ben Feltner, fourth- and 27th-round choices, respectively, last June, are steady senior leaders.
* Left-handed freshman Brooks Raley, whom Childress originally saw as helping this team mostly as a reliever, is the series-opening starter and has a 6-0 mark.
* Shortstop Jose Duran, a junior-college transfer, is batting .391 and leading the Big 12 in hits.
* Senior third baseman Dane Carter, a .203 hitter who drove in 11 runs last season, is now at .406 with 50 RBIs.
* Right-handed sophomore pitcher Clayton Ehlert, 1-1 in eight appearances last year, is 6-2 with the top ERA (2.82) of the weekend starters.
And that’s hardly the full list of prime contributors.
Senior designated hitter Darby Brown is hitting .345 with a team-high 52 RBIs. Junior first baseman Luke Anders is at .377 with a team-high 12 homers. Junior right fielder Brian Ruggiano and junior center fielder Kyle Colligan are at .345 and .311, respectively.
In the bullpen, A&M has two quality right-handed firemen: Sophomore Travis Starling is 7-0 with nine saves and a 2.23 ERA. Kyle Thebeau, 6-12 with a 4.68 ERA after two seasons, is 5-2 with a Big 12-low 1.61 ERA in 2008.
“They’re really good position playerwise,” Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn said of the Aggies, who threw Loux and Raley while beating the Razorbacks 15-7 in College Station on March 1. “They have speed and some power. And their young pitchers have developed.”
With so many individuals putting up impressive statistics, one might think A&M has simply overwhelmed most of its opponents. But that’s not the case.
Even though the Aggies are hitting better in league play than they are overall (.328 to .325) and are No. 3 with a 4.29 ERA in conference-only games, they’ve come from behind nine times during their 15-game Big 12 winning streak.
Six of those outcomes were decided by two or fewer runs, including:
n A 9-8 victory against Missouri on April 25 that ended on a bases-loaded balk and capped a rally from an 8-1 deficit.
n A 13-12, 11-inning triumph against Baylor on April 20 that occurred after a six-run ninth.
The Aggies also beat Kansas State on April 5 after trailing by six runs in the sixth inning, and won at Kansas on March 29 and 30 after being down by three and two runs, respectively, in the eighth.
Their latest acts of magic came against Dallas Baptist last Saturday, when they scored four runs in the sixth inning to pull out a 5-4 decision; at TCU on April 29, when a 3-2 game was decided on a wild pitch with two outs in the ninth; and on April 27, when they finished a sweep of Missouri with another 3-2 decision that Colligan ended with a home run on the first pitch of the 10th.
“This team can win in a lot of different ways,” Childress said. “We can overwhelm people offensively, at times. But even down 8-1 to (Missouri ace) Aaron Crow, down 12-6 to Baylor, we found a way. I don’t know how … but this team always thinks they’re in it. They love to compete.”
Talk about a worthwhile ritual.
Briefly
* Fans wanting to attend any of the weekend games should consider buying tickets in advance. Already, more than 5,000 have been sold to each contest. General admission tickets are available at Huskers.com, by telephone at 800-8-BIGRED or at the NU Ticket Office located across the street from Memorial Stadium.
* Andy Sawyers, who played two seasons at Nebraska, spent one year with the Huskers as a volunteer assistant and then returned as a full-time coach when Mike Anderson succeeded Van Horn, is in his first year as a volunteer assistant at A&M. As he was at NU, Sawyers is the first-base coach, and also is in charge of the outfielders.
“I feel lucky to have him with us,” Childress said.
Reach Curt McKeever at 473-7441 or cmckeever@journalstar.com.
But the Aggies did go through a ritual that officially moved them beyond 2007, when they produced the nation’s biggest one-year turnaround and nearly strode into the College World Series:
It was a four-game split in their season-opening series at home against Northern Colorado — a club that’s now 17-31.
“You try to give (Kevin) Smallcomb and those guys credit,” A&M coach Rob Childress said of the Bears’ coach and club, “but I was pretty mad.”
A&M, which went from 25 wins in 2006 to 48 and a NCAA super regional appearance last year, has channeled that emotion to put together an even bigger season under their third-year coach.
The first team in the nation to reach 40 wins, the 41-8 Aggies come to Nebraska this weekend riding a record 15-game winning streak in Big 12 play and on the cusp of winning their first conference regular-season championship since 1999.
Taking this weekend’s series against the second-place Huskers in a stadium Childress called home for eight years could clinch that desired goal. With six league contests remaining, the Aggies hold a 2½-game lead over NU and are four up on Oklahoma State.
“We expected to have a good year. … To have a great year, some things have got to happen,” Childress said. “No. 1 you’ve got to hold on to a high draft pick and have a senior-(to-be from the previous team) that was drafted pretty good and wants to come back. Then, you need to have a couple guys come out of nowhere, and get other guys to have career years.”
A&M — which like Nebraska is ranked as high as No. 5 but is above the Huskers in three of the four major listings — has received all of that, and more.
* Right-handed freshman pitcher Barret Loux, a 24th-round draft pick, has settled into the No. 2 weekend slot and has a 4-1 record.
* Second baseman Blake Stouffer and left fielder Ben Feltner, fourth- and 27th-round choices, respectively, last June, are steady senior leaders.
* Left-handed freshman Brooks Raley, whom Childress originally saw as helping this team mostly as a reliever, is the series-opening starter and has a 6-0 mark.
* Shortstop Jose Duran, a junior-college transfer, is batting .391 and leading the Big 12 in hits.
* Senior third baseman Dane Carter, a .203 hitter who drove in 11 runs last season, is now at .406 with 50 RBIs.
* Right-handed sophomore pitcher Clayton Ehlert, 1-1 in eight appearances last year, is 6-2 with the top ERA (2.82) of the weekend starters.
And that’s hardly the full list of prime contributors.
Senior designated hitter Darby Brown is hitting .345 with a team-high 52 RBIs. Junior first baseman Luke Anders is at .377 with a team-high 12 homers. Junior right fielder Brian Ruggiano and junior center fielder Kyle Colligan are at .345 and .311, respectively.
In the bullpen, A&M has two quality right-handed firemen: Sophomore Travis Starling is 7-0 with nine saves and a 2.23 ERA. Kyle Thebeau, 6-12 with a 4.68 ERA after two seasons, is 5-2 with a Big 12-low 1.61 ERA in 2008.
“They’re really good position playerwise,” Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn said of the Aggies, who threw Loux and Raley while beating the Razorbacks 15-7 in College Station on March 1. “They have speed and some power. And their young pitchers have developed.”
With so many individuals putting up impressive statistics, one might think A&M has simply overwhelmed most of its opponents. But that’s not the case.
Even though the Aggies are hitting better in league play than they are overall (.328 to .325) and are No. 3 with a 4.29 ERA in conference-only games, they’ve come from behind nine times during their 15-game Big 12 winning streak.
Six of those outcomes were decided by two or fewer runs, including:
n A 9-8 victory against Missouri on April 25 that ended on a bases-loaded balk and capped a rally from an 8-1 deficit.
n A 13-12, 11-inning triumph against Baylor on April 20 that occurred after a six-run ninth.
The Aggies also beat Kansas State on April 5 after trailing by six runs in the sixth inning, and won at Kansas on March 29 and 30 after being down by three and two runs, respectively, in the eighth.
Their latest acts of magic came against Dallas Baptist last Saturday, when they scored four runs in the sixth inning to pull out a 5-4 decision; at TCU on April 29, when a 3-2 game was decided on a wild pitch with two outs in the ninth; and on April 27, when they finished a sweep of Missouri with another 3-2 decision that Colligan ended with a home run on the first pitch of the 10th.
“This team can win in a lot of different ways,” Childress said. “We can overwhelm people offensively, at times. But even down 8-1 to (Missouri ace) Aaron Crow, down 12-6 to Baylor, we found a way. I don’t know how … but this team always thinks they’re in it. They love to compete.”
Talk about a worthwhile ritual.
Briefly
* Fans wanting to attend any of the weekend games should consider buying tickets in advance. Already, more than 5,000 have been sold to each contest. General admission tickets are available at Huskers.com, by telephone at 800-8-BIGRED or at the NU Ticket Office located across the street from Memorial Stadium.
* Andy Sawyers, who played two seasons at Nebraska, spent one year with the Huskers as a volunteer assistant and then returned as a full-time coach when Mike Anderson succeeded Van Horn, is in his first year as a volunteer assistant at A&M. As he was at NU, Sawyers is the first-base coach, and also is in charge of the outfielders.
“I feel lucky to have him with us,” Childress said.
Reach Curt McKeever at 473-7441 or cmckeever@journalstar.com.
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