The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Texas A&M
Baseball topples No. 9 Texas A&M, 5-2
05.16.2008 | Baseball
Danks' first triple came in the fifth inning to give Texas (32-19, 13-12 Big 12) a 2-1 lead. With the scored tied at 1-1, Travis Tucker hit a two-out infield single and scored when Danks deposited a first-pitch offering to the wall in centerfield.
Danks delivered his second triple in the home half of the seventh. With one out, Michael Torres was hit by a pitch and Tucker singled through the left side to put runners at first and second. Danks hit another shot to the fence to clear the bases and give UT a 4-1 lead. Preston Clark finished off the scoring with a sacrifice fly to rightfield, plating Danks.
Texas broke the scoring seal in the bottom of the third when Cameron Rupp hit a leadoff double off the rightfield wall and scored on a single up the middle by David Hernandez.
Texas A&M (42-12, 19-6 Big 12) knotted the game at 1-1 in the top of the next inning. With one out, Blake Stouffer doubled to rightfield and one out later Jose Duran laced a double for the equalizer.
The Aggies scored a run in the ninth when Kevin Gonzalez singled in Brodie Greene.
Ruffin (7-3) earned the win with a solid seven-inning performance. He allowed one run on six hits and two walks while striking out five. Brandon Belt pitched well in a non-save situation, allowing one run on three hits and one walk while striking out three over two innings.
Brooks Raley (6-1) was saddled with his first loss of the season. He allowed five runs on eight hits and three walks while striking out five over eight innings.
Danks spearheaded the Longhorns' arsenal, going 2-for-4 with one run and three RBI. Tucker went 2-for-4 with two runs and Hernandez was 2-for-3 with one RBI.
Duran, Green and Gonzalez each had two hits to lead the Aggies' offense.
The Longhorns and Aggies continue the three-game series on Saturday with a 6:30 p.m. first pitch at Olsen Field in College Station.
POSTGAME QUOTES
HEAD COACH Augie Garrido
On the team's overall performance: I think that if you had seen this team play earlier in the season, it would be hard to believe that we could play a game like that defensively. I kept saying that that's in there and it came out tonight. If we can build from this point forward, we can play with anybody. Chance Ruffin did what a dominating Friday night starter is supposed to do and he got help from [Brandon] Belt to get the save. There were three plays defensively that were absolutely brilliant, and they were momentum stoppers at that time. This was a game won by quality, not lost to one another. Texas A&M didn't lose the game to us; we won the game tonight and both teams played well.
On the atmosphere of tonight's game: It feels like a championship game to me because I don't think mathematically we can finish lower than fifth now. Certainly we still feel the responsibility to go out and win; you don't play a game like this and then back off of it. We have got to build off of it, we have to be consistent at that level of play.
On Jordan Danks' two triples: He was aggressive in both of those at-bats. He went in with the mentality that he was going to hit the first good pitch he got and he did that. He squared both those balls up; it's almost like an instant replay from one at-bat to the next.
FRESHMAN PITCHER Chance Ruffin
On the defense playing behind him: The defense was definitely on today. They had some good plays running so I had a lot of confidence in them.
On the momentum coming into and after the game: I was anxious and ready to go. I've been looking forward to pitching against A&M-it's been a dream for a long time so it didn't take much to get me pumped up. The win was big. I think there's a lot of confidence after the game to go into the Big 12 Tournament. It was nice to get a win over A&M at home. It was a hard fought game so it's really rewarding to get the win.
JUNIOR CENTERFIELDER Jordan Danks
On his consecutive triples: I had two not-so-successful at-bats before then and I knew I had to turn it around. I saw a lot of pitches that I could have hit and I told myself to jump on anything he throws in the zone.
On the team's recent performance: Lately we've been playing real good baseball. We played real well against Baylor and then had two solid games against Alabama A&M. A lot of good things are happening late in the season and we're building off of that and carrying it into the following games. It was a big win tonight, A&M always brings their "A" game against us and it's a big rivalry. Getting that win at home is really crucial.
On Chance Ruffin: I've always had confidence in Chance coming in; he's a great pitcher, he comes in and works hard. He's competitive and we didn't see anything different in tonight. He came in, he was dominant and the defense stepped up a lot. I feel like everybody was on their toes and made a lot of great plays.
