Aggies Rout Bama in Winner's Bracket Game, 16-5
8/28/2003 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Crimson Tide Faces Houston in 7 PM Elimination Game
Saturday, May 31, 2003 |
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*The Alabama Crimson Tide (38-23) could not did itself out of a first-inning hole and fell to the No. 1 seed Texas A&M Aggies (44-17) 16-5 in the winner's bracket final of the 2003 NCAA College Station Regional at Olsen Field Saturday afternoon.
*The loss drops Alabama into tonight's losers bracket game against the Houston Cougars at 7 p.m. Alabama needs a win over UH tonight and two over A&M on Sunday, June 1 to win the NCAA Regional title.
*Alabama and Houston are meeting for the third time this season and second time here in College Station. Alabama posted a 9-3 win on Friday, May 30 in first round action. UH beat Alabama 7-2 at the Minute Maid Park College Classic in Houston on Feb. 15.
*Texas A&M roughed up three Alabama pitchers for 16 runs and 20 hits in the win to advance to Sunday's championship game at 2 p.m. here at Olsen Field. The Alabama-Houston winner must beat A&M twice on Sunday to win the NCAA Regional.
*The 16 runs by the Aggies are the most allowed by Alabama in an NCAA Regional game, equalling a 16-6 loss at Stanford in the 2000 NCAA Palo Alto Regional championship game.
*The 20 hits by the Aggies equal the most allowed by Alabama in NCAA Regional play, matching the 20 hits posted by Stanford in that 2000 NCAA Regional championship game.
*The 12-run loss is the worst loss by Alabama in NCAA Regional play. The previous worst was a 16-6 decision at Stanford in the championship game of the 2000 NCAA Palo Alto Regional .
*The 12-run loss is also the worst by Alabama in any post-season game. The previous was a 15-1 loss to Miami, Fla., in the 1996 College World Series.
*The Aggies scored seven runs in the bottom of the first inning -- all with two outs -- knocking out Alabama starter Seth Johnson after facing just nine batters. Scott Beerer's sacrifice fly with the bases loaded gave A&M a 1-0 lead. John Infante and Matt Alexander followed with two-run singles to make it a 5-0 game. Erik Schindewolf and Cliff Pennington greeted Jared Woodward with back-to-back RBI singles as the Aggies put seven on the board in the first inning.
*Texas A&M scored three more runs in the second inning on Jason Pouk's RBI single and a two-run single by Alexander, his second hit and fourth RBI in the first two innings.
*Johnson was roughed up for seven runs and five hits in just two-thirds of an inning, adding one walk, one wild pitch and one hit batter.
*Woodward did not fare much better, allowing three runs and six hits in one inning of work. He also walked on batter.
*Aggie shortstop Matt Alexander had two, two-run singles in each of his first two at-bats against Alabama. Alexander had three hits and six RBI from the No. 9 spot in the batting order.
*Second baseman Erik Schindewolf had two hits in the first inning for the Aggies. He finished the game with four hits and two RBI for the Aggies.
*Infante also added three hits and two RBI for the A&M.
*Right-hander Eric Mennen was one of the few bright spots for Alabama, working a career high six innings for the Tide. He allowed six runs and eight hits in the loss.
*Junior left fielder Ryan Beagle put Alabama on the board with a solo home run in the second inning. It was Beagle's first home run of the year for the Crimson Tide.
*Alabama tried to creep back in the game, scoring three runs on five hits in the fifth inning, to cut the deficit to 10-4. John Marshall, a native of Dallas, Texas, slammed his first career home run to left field to open the scoring. Evan Bush, Travis Garner and Adam Pavkovich followed with consecutive two-out singles with Bush scoring on Pavkovich's base hit to left. Hearod then ripped a double into the left field corner, scoring Garner from second base to make it a 10-4 game. Pavkovich, trying to score all the way from first, gunned down at home on a close play to the end the rally
*Marshall's solo home run was his first home run in his two-year career at Alabama.
*The Aggies scored two unearned runs in the bottom of the inning off Eric Mennen, who entered the game in the third inning with two outs. After watching Mennen retire the first eight A&M batters he faced, Schindewolf dropped a bunt down the first base line for his third hit of the game. Pennington followed with a single to center field in front of Garner, who overran the ball. The result was a three-base error that allowed both runners to score and up the Aggies lead to 12-4.
*The error was the first of the year by Garner in 61 games ending his bid to become the third player in school history and first outfielder to play an entire season without an error.
*Sophomore first baseman Zac Welch extended his hitting streak to 12 games with a leadoff single up the middle in the sixth inning. During the hitting streak, Welch is batting .354 (17-for-54) with nine run, five doubles and 10 RBI.
*Shortstop Adam Pavkovich had three hits for Alabama, while DH Al Hecklinski added two hits in the loss.
