April 8, 2008

Final Stats

Complete Houston-Texas A&M Game Book (April 8, 2008) in PDF Format

HOUSTON - No. 8 Texas A&M scored five unearned runs in the first inning and never looked back in taking a 13-6 win over the 19th-ranked University of Houston baseball team Tuesday during non-conference action at Cougar Field.

The Aggies rapped out four hits and took advantage of a costly two-out, Cougar infield error to grab a lead they would never relinquish. UH scored single runs in the second and third innings to pull to within three, but would get no closer as Texas A&M scored at least one run in each of the last five innings.

Bryan Pounds went 2-for-5 with a run to lead the Cougar offense, which rapped out seven hits in the game. The Houston native has hit safely in 26 of the 28 games in which he has played this season.

Freshman shortstop Blake Kelso went 0-for-3 with a run and drew two walks but saw his career-best 11-game hitting streak come to an end. His streak tied with current Houston Astro centerfielder Michael Bourn for the second-longest in UH freshman history and was only two away from the record set by outfielder Sam Mitchell in 2001.

UH starter Jared Ray collected the loss and fell to 0-1 after giving up seven runs (only two earned) off 10 hits with four strikeouts in 4.2 innings.

With the loss, the Cougars fell to 19-11 overall and saw their five-game winning streak over nationally ranked opponents snapped. Texas A&M improved to 27-6 and won its fourth-straight game over UH at Cougar Field.

Texas A&M starter Scott Migl earned the win and improved to 2-1 after holding the Cougars to five runs (two earned) off five hits and two walks with six strikeouts in 7.2 innings.

Kyle Colligan went 3-for-4 with a double, two runs and RBI to lead the Texas A&M offense, which posted a UH-opponent-season-best 17 hits and saw all but one starter record a hit in the game. Dane Carter went 3-for-6 with a run, double and two RBIs, while Jose Duran finished the night 2-for-6 with four runs and two RBIs.

Darby Brown went 2-for-5 with an RBI, and Anders batted 2-for-5 with a run and three RBIs. Brian Ruggiano batted 2-for-5 with a run, home run and four RBIs in the winning.

The Cougars return to action at 6:30 p.m., Tuesday, when they meet Texas State in San Marcos. This will be the first time since 2003 that the two teams will meet on the baseball diamond.

Fans can hear Cougar Baseball games live at UHCougars.com by clicking the appropriate links. Jeremy Branham will call the play-by-play action while former letterwinner Pat Cauley provides color analysis.

Fans always can follow live stats by clicking on the Gametracker link.

In the first inning, the Aggies used a two-run single from Anders' and Ruggiano's three-run homer - both with two outs - to take a 5-0 lead.

The Aggies put their first mark on the scoreboard in the second inning. Chris Wallace was hit by a pitch and moved to third after Felix Fanaselle blasted a one-out double to right field. Bryan Tully then grounded out to first but not before Wallace raced in to trim the Aggie lead to 5-1.

Blake Kelso led off the third inning with a walk and moved into scoring position following Pounds' one-out single. Both runners teamed up on a double steal, and Kelso scored when an errant throw on the steal attempt sailed into left field.

However, that would be as close as the Cougars would get the rest of the way. Duran and Brown rapped out back-to-back RBI-singles in the fifth inning, and Colligan's sacrifice fly to center field plated pinch hitter Brodie Greene to hand the Aggies an 8-2 lead.

One inning later, Ruggiano smashed a single into center field to score Duran, who led off the inning by reaching on the Cougars' second infield error of the night.

In the eighth inning, the Aggies rapped out four straight hits on the way to three runs for a 12-2 lead. Carter posted a RBI-double, while Brown and Anders added RBI-singles in the frame.

The Cougars pushed three runs of their own across in the bottom of the eighth with three straight hits. Jake Stewart started the rally with a one-out double to right center and moved to third following Pounds' single to left field. Ryan Lormand then plated pinch runner Caleb Ramsey with a single to left field, and both Pounds and Lormand scored following a wild pitch and Aggie infield error.

In the ninth inning, Carter smashed an RBI-single up the middle to plate pinch hitter Caleb Shofner, and Caleb Ramsey's infield single in the bottom of the frame scored Zak Presley, who led off with a double to left field for the final score.