Spring Break
Baseball Eliminated in Fort Worth
By: Brad Cox
Issue date: 6/1/09 Section: Sports
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Oregon State shelled the Aggies' pitching staff in an elimination game of the NCAA Tournament, winning 13-5 and sending A&M back to College Station without a regional title.
"My disappointment is for them and not in them," A&M Head Coach Rob Childress said. "We didn't reach any goal that we set out to accomplish, but what you're going to remember is the journey, not the destination."
After starting 2009 ranked No. 1 by Baseball America, the Aggies finished the season with a 37-24 record and were eliminated from a regional for the first time in six years. A&M did not qualify for the postseason in 2005 and 2006.
The Beavers used a six-run first inning to take control of the game and give starting pitcher Jorge Reyes a confidence boost.
"We knew what we had to do today," Reyes said. "I told myself I was going to go as long as I can as hard as I can."
The Aggies' offense struggled to figure out the 2007 College World Series MVP as Reyes pitched a complete game, giving up 10 hits and five runs, three of them earned, and striking out six.
The way A&M junior pitcher Clayton Ehlert started was indicative of his 1.2 innings of work after he allowed the first batter he faced to reach base on a third-strike wild pitch. The runner scored the first of the Beavers' six runs in the first.
After the strike out, Ehlert gave up three consecutive singles and one double before recording the first out of the inning.
At the bottom of Oregon State's batting order, junior shortstop Joey Wong and sophomore second baseman John Tommasini had back-to-back two-out doubles before sophomore right fielder Michael Miller grounded out to end the inning with the Beavers ahead 6-0.
Oregon State scored runs in all but two innings, including a solo home run by junior catcher Ryan Ortiz in the second inning and a three-run fifth inning.
After giving up the home run in the second inning, freshman southpaw Estevan Uriegas was sent in to relieve Ehlert. Uriegas pitched one inning, giving up two hits and one run.
Junior Shane Minks replaced Uriegas in the third inning and threw 1.2 innings, giving up three runs. Minks was replaced by freshman Ross Stripling, who pitched two innings and gave up one run.
Sophomore Nick Fleece finished the seventh inning and was then replaced by junior Travis Starling before the eighth inning. Starling gave up one run on one hit in the inning.
Junior designated hitter Joe Patterson hit a solo home run over the right field wall in the top of the sixth inning to end the shutout.
The Aggies picked up two runs each in the eighth and nine innings to chip at the Beavers' lead, but it was too little too late as Reyes kept Oregon State in it and held on for the 13-5 win.
"It's disappointing," said Brodie Greene, who went 2-for-5 and scored a run. "Not making it the last three years, to Omaha, it makes that hunger and desire to get that goal."
A&M advanced to game five of the tournament by beating No. 4-seeded Wright State 6-4 in extra innings of an elimination game Saturday. The Aggies were sent to the loser's bracket on the first day of the regional by Oregon State after a 9-8 loss.
Childress is losing four seniors plus Starling from a 2009 squad that struggled with pitching depth and consistency at the plate. A&M finished in sixth place in the Big 12.
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