Baseball wins 2 against A&M, Aggies take third

Ian Mayer Arizona Daily Wildcat Senior second baseman Andy Juday (16) tags out an Aggie player and then attempts a double play Saturday at Frank Sancet Field. The Wildcats won 5-2 over No. 9 Texas A&M.

Arizona did manage to beat the No. 9-ranked Aggies on Friday 11-5 and Saturday 5-2 when junior Josh Pearce pitched the first complete game by an Arizona pitcher since April 6, 1997.

The scoring yesterday started in the first inning as the Aggies got to UA freshman starting pitcher Ben Diggins (1-1) early and often, scoring seven earned runs and getting five hits in his 2 1/3 innings pitched.

"He just couldn't hit his spots today," UA head coach Jerry Stitt said. "I went over to talk to him after he was taken out and he said he just couldn't put it where he wanted to today."

The Wildcats did score four runs in the second inning, taking a 4-2 lead, but the Aggies came right back with a five-run third inning capped by a two-run homer by junior Sean Haney, sending Diggins to the showers early.

"We didn't compete as well today as we have been. Coach (Mark) Johnson had them swinging the bats and really competing well today. That is a tribute to him and his coaching staff," Stitt said.

It wasn't until the sixth inning that the game was put out of reach for good by the Aggies as they scored eight runs on six hits by sending up 12 batters to the plate to face the four Arizona pitchers in the inning.

Junior Dave Abbott started the inning, but after giving up five runs and getting no outs, he was taken out and replaced by sophomore Wesley Zlotoff.

Zlotoff also couldn't get an out and neither could his replacement, junior Scott Wood. In fact the first out didn't come until the ninth batter in the inning when junior Cordell Lindsey flew out after junior Mike Meyer came into pitch.

All in all the Aggies three through nine hitters in the starting lineup each had at least one RBI, and every Aggies starter touched home plate at least once.

"It was just one of those days. We fell behind in the count, the balls were getting through and they hit the ball hard," Anderson said.

The one positive in the game for the Wildcats was freshman right fielder Shelley Duncan, who had his third two home run game of the season for eight total homers on the year.