The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
40-19
Texas A&M
36-25
Baseball falls to Texas A&M, 3-2
06.02.2014 | Baseball
The Longhorns and Aggies will play again tomorrow at 6 p.m. to decide the regional champion
HOUSTON -- Texas reliever Travis Duke pitched four solid innings and the Longhorns twice held early leads over Texas A&M, but the Aggies got a standout pitching performance from starter Tyler Stubblefield and came back to defeat the Longhorns 3-2 Sunday night in the Houston regional.
The two teams will meet again Monday evening at 6 p.m. on ESPNU to decide the regional championship.
Texas (40-19) used single runs in the second and third innings for an early advantage, but Stubblefield followed with six shutout innings and the Aggies (36-25) managed just enough offense with runs in the fourth and fifth.
Stubblefield threw career-high 134 pitches en route to his first ever complete game victory. He allowed only four hits all night and did not allow a run after the third inning. He also matched his career high with nine strikeouts.
Texas led 1-0 in the second inning and 2-1 in the third, behind two-out RBI base hits from C.J Hinojosa and Madison Carter. However, the Aggies battled back, capitalizing on Texas miscues and timely hitting to tie the game in the fourth and take the lead in the fifth. They then rode Stubblefield the rest of the way to victory.
In order to advance to Sunday night's championship round, the Aggies had overcome a 6-0 deficit to Rice in the afternoon game, eventually winning 9-8 in 10 innings.
Duke turned in a career-best performance, establishing career highs in innings pitched (4.0) and strikeouts (6). But a balk in the fifth inning moved a runner into scoring position and Texas A&M's Nick Banks delivered a two-out RBI single that broke a 2-2 tie and proved to be the game winner.
It marked the first earned run surrendered all year by Duke, who took the loss to fall to 2-1. Stubblefield improved his record to 4-2 with the win.
Hinojosa led off the top of the second inning with an infield single to put Texas position for an early lead. After a sacrifice bunt and fly out moved Hinojosa to third base, Ben Johnson delivered a two-out double to give the Longhorns a 1-0 lead.
Texas A&M's Patrick McLendon tied it up in the bottom half of the inning, hitting an 0-2 pitch with two outs just over a diving Brooks Marlow in shallow center field to score a run.
Another two-out RBI saw Texas retake the lead in the third. After Mark Payton singled and stole second base – his 17th in 18 attempts this season –Carter drove him in with an opposite field single to make it 2-1.
In the fourth, Texas' first defensive error of the regional gave the Aggies the tying run. Troy Stein singled with one out and moved to second on a wild pitch, then scored when Zane Gurwitz committed a throwing error on a grounder.
That prompted a pitching change for the Longhorns, who went to Duke. After issuing a walk to the first batter he faced, Duke got two big strikeouts to end the inning and strand two runners.
Another Texas miscue helped lead to the go-ahead run for the Aggies. Ryne Birk led off the bottom of the fifth with a single and was put in scoring position when a balk was called on Duke. A pair of fly outs gave Texas two outs in the inning, but a RBI single from Banks gave A&M a 3-2 advantage.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: STUBBLEFIE T (4-2)
L: Duke, Travis (2-1)
Batting:
2B: Johnson, Ben 1
RBI: Carter, Madison 1 ; Johnson, Ben 1
SH: Carter, Madison 1 ; Shaw, Collin 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Payton, Mark 1 ; Hinojosa, C.J 1
SB: Payton, Mark 1
Batting:
RBI: BANKS 1 ; McLENDON 1
Base Running:
RUNS: BIRK 1 ; NOTTEBROK 1 ; STEIN 1
SB: STATUM 1
CS: ALLEMAND 1
