Spring Break
Sweeping up
Top ranked Aggie baseball team opens 2009 season with 4-0 start against Raiders
By: Brad Cox
Issue date: 2/23/09 Section: Sports
| |
|
Olsen Field.
Behind the bats of junior third baseman Caleb Shofner and sophomore right fielder Brooks Raley, the Aggies came from behind for the second time of the season to win 8-5.
The Aggies opened the scoring in the bottom of the third inning. Shofner led the inning off with a single and was hit over to second when Raley hit a single. After senior first baseman Luke Anders struck out, sophomore designated hitter Nick Fleece walked to load the bases.
Wright State starter Michael Woytek then walked junior leftfielder Dylan Petrich with two outs to send Shofner home, giving the Aggies a 1-0 lead.
The Raiders answered in the top of the fourth inning.
A&M junior right-handed pitcher Clayton Ehlert started the game for the Aggies. The 6-foot-1-inch ballplayer was Head Coach Rob Childress' Sunday starter in 2008 and is fighting for one of the three weekend spots in 2009.
In his first start of the season, Ehlert held the Raiders hitless for three innings before giving up a single to Wright State leadoff man R.J. Gundolff. After reaching second base on an error, Gundolff scored from second on a single by third baseman Quentin Cate, tying the game at 1-1.
Cate led the Raiders with a .400 batting average and drove in two RBIs in the series against the top-ranked team in the nation.
Wright State followed up with four runs in the top of the sixth inning. After taking a 3-1 lead, runners scored from third and second base with two outs when freshman shortstop Adam Smith thought he recorded a force out at second base but the umpire called the runner safe. Both runners in scoring position scored to give the Raiders a 5-1 lead.
However the sixth inning has been the magic inning for the Aggies in 2009. A&M scored ten runs in the inning during the first game of the series on Friday and six runs during the inning in the second game of the Saturday double header.
The Aggies kept the magic alive, posting five runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to take back the lead for good, 6-5. A&M recorded six hits in the inning, scoring all but two runners that reached base.
A&M stretched the lead to 8-5 in the bottom of the eighth inning when Shofner, who record his fourth hit of the game in the inning, scored from second on double to left field by Raley. Raley then scored on a bases loaded balk for the final score.
"We can't keep responding," Childress said. "We had to respond twice this weekend and that's not good. We've got to do a better job from the start taking care of business offensively."
Sophomore reliever Travis Starling got his first pitches of the game when he closed out the ninth inning, recording two quick groundouts and a fly out to win the game.
Fleece earned the win for the Aggies after pitching 0.2 of the sixth inning. He remained in the game as the designated hitter after junior left handed pitcher Tyler Dyer replaced him on
the mound.
The game capped a big weekend for Shofner and Raley.
Shofner is batting .900 with a 2.338 OPS after the weekend series while Raley his batting .600 with a 1.400 OPS.
"I have a lot of confidence when I step in the box," Shofner said. "I'm going to compete against whoever they put out there on the mound."
Raley, a southpaw, also started on the mound for the Aggies on Friday, earning the win and holding the Raiders to two runs in six innings of work.
"I just like winning, whatever it takes" Raley said. "If you need me on the mound and I do well that's great, but you also have those days where you pitch crappy and somebody picks you up. Baseball is a game and its a game of failure and you just have to deal with it."
Texas A&M vs. Wright State
Game 1: 18-2
Game 2: 7-6
Game 3: 9-0
Game: 8-5
To read more about each Aggie victory over Wright State University, visit the batt.com.
Be sure to include your name, major, and class year. Submissions without this information are subject to deletion.
By submitting a comment, you agree to thebatt.com's Terms of Use.
You may also send a Mail Call to The Battalion at mailcall@thebatt.com