The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
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Texas A&M
No. 2 Baseball falls to Texas A&M, 9-3
05.29.2010 | Baseball
May 29, 2010
OKLAHOMA CITY -- The No. 2 Texas Longhorns were doomed by three double plays and nine players left on base in a 9-3 loss to the Texas A&M Aggies at AT&T Bricktown Ballpark on Saturday at the 2010 Phillips 66 Big 12 Baseball Championship.
The Longhorns ended the tournament pool with an 0-3 mark. Texas is 46-11 on the season. Texas A&M moved to 3-0 in pool action and the Aggies will play the Baylor Bears in Sunday's title game at 1 p.m.
Texas A&M (39-19-1) drew first blood with two runs in the top of the first inning. With one out, Tyler Naquin doubled to the gap and left centerfield and scored on a double down the leftfield line by Brodie Greene. With two outs, Matt Juengel singled to centerfield to plate Greene for the 2-0 lead.
The Longhorns responded with a run in the home half of the first. Walla hit a leadoff double but was retired at third on a fielder's choice grounder to short by Tant Shepherd. With two outs, Russell Moldenhauer walked to put runners at first and second and Kevin Keyes singled up the middle to drive in Shepherd, trimming the lead to 2-1.
Texas A&M's lead ballooned to 5-1 in the second. Gregg Alcazar was hit by a pitch and Caleb Shofner walked to lead off the inning and with two outs Naquin hit a three-run home run over the wall in right centerfield.
Solo home runs by Juengel in the third and fifth innings and an RBI single by Greene in the fourth inflated the Aggies cushion to 8-1.
Texas cut the lead to 8-3 with a pair of runs in the fifth. Rupp hit a leadoff single and Moldenhauer dropped a home run onto the grassy knoll in centerfield.
The Longhorns threatened to score runs in the sixth when the loaded the bases, but Rupp grounded into a 5-2-3 double play and Moldenhauer grounded out to end the inning.
The Aggies added a run in the seventh on a single by Adam Smith to cap off the game's scoring.
Cole Green (10-1) was saddled with his first loss of the season. He allowed seven runs on nine hits and one walk while striking out four over 4.0 innings.
Clayton Ehlert (4-6) earned the win for Texas A&M. He allowed three runs on 10 hits and four walks while striking out seven over 7.0 innings. Shane Minks worked 2.0 shutout innings allowing just one walk while striking out three.
Connor Rowe went 3-for-4 for the Horns. Walla went 2-for-5 with one double. Moldenhauer was 1-for-3 with two walks and two RBI.
Juengel went 3-for-4 with two runs, two home runs and three RBI. Naquin went 4-for-5 with three runs, two doubles, one home run and three RBI. Greene went 4-for-5 with one double, two runs and two RBI.
On Sunday, the Longhorns will find out if UFCU Disch-Falk Field was selected as a regional site. The announcement will be made at approximately 2:30 p.m. ET.
The 64-team bracket announcement for the NCAA Division I Baseball Championship will be announced on a live ESPN telecast on Monday at 11:30 p.m. Central.
