Horns down: Aggies’ Stubblefield is too tough for Texas in 3-2 win

HOUSTON – Given the fact that, as both teams continually declare, there is nothing overly important about the aborted (and now restarted) rivalry between Texas and Texas A&M, the Aggies 3-2 win against the Longhorns in the first championship game at the NCAA Houston Regional Sunday at Rice’s Reckling Park was just another example of a good team with its collective back against the wall beating another good squad that had a little breathing room.

But the bottom line is that there are still plenty of emotions surrounding any game between these two schools. Such was illustrated in the moments after the game when A&M freshman lefthander Tyler Stubblefield, fresh off a complete-game, nine-strikeout, 134-pitch win over Texas, stared into the UT dugout and flashed the “horns down” sign.

Stubblefield’s demonstration might be shrugged off as youthful exuberance and should take nothing away from his scintillating performance on the mound.[s2If current_user_can(access_s2member_level2)]

He allowed the Horns (40-19) just two runs and four hits, one after the fourth inning, and pitched the Aggies (36-25) into a win-or-go-home championship game on Monday beginnings at 6:05 p.m. that should be a barnburner.

“The difference tonight was (Stubblefield),” Texas coach Augie Garrido said after the game. “We were focused on winning the game and got away from the process of playing that got us to this point. But, frankly, (Stubblefield) had a lot to do with that.”

Stubblefield (4-2), who until Sunday had not lasted more than 6 2/3 innings in any game this season, retired eight batters in a row from the sixth to the eighth. He constantly kept the Horns’ hitters of balance by throwing changeups early in the count to right-handed batters and mixing in upper 80s-90-mph fastball in key situations.

“I was pitching on straight adrenaline at the end, but there was never any thought about being tired and not finishing,” Stubblefield said.

Texas took a 1-0 lead in the second when Ben Johnson’s double scored C.J Hinojosa, who had singled and advanced on a sacrifice bunt and a flyout.

The Aggies immediately answered in the bottom of the frame as Patrick McLendon singled home Logan Nottebrok, but the Horns’ Collin Shaw prevented more damage by throwing out McLendon later in the inning when he tried to score from second on a Krey Bratsen single.

The Longhorns retook the advantage in their next at bat, with Payton – who in the first reached base for nation-leading 98th consecutive game – scored on a one-out single by Madison Carter.

But Texas A&M, which was forced to play 10 innings in the muggy Houston afternoon heat earlier in the day to beat host and No. 1 seed Rice and advance to Sunday night’s game, refused to back down.

The Aggies tied the game in the third went the Horns’ Zane Gurwitz’s throwing error allowed Troy Stein to score from second base and then took the lead in the fifth when Nick Banks plated Ryne Birk with a two-out single.

Texas threatened in the sixth, placing runners on first and second with one out, but Stubblefield struck out Shaw and coaxed a weak infield grounder to first base to end the potential rally.

Shaw walked with one out in the ninth and Johnson battled through an eight-pitch at bat before striking out looking to end the game.

“That was quite a final battle,” Garrido said. “If everyone would have competed in their at bats the way Ben did there, maybe things would have been different. We just have to go out and do what we can do best tomorrow and win this thing.”

Travis Duke (2-1), who entered in the fourth in relief of Lukas Schiraldi, absorbed the loss despite allowing just three hits and one earned run in four innings of work.

Through its first six games, the Houston regional has drawn 30,076 fans (5,013 per game), setting Reckling Park records for both total and average attendance for a regional. The previous attendance record was 27,174 in 2004, compiled over seven games as Texas A&M defeated Rice to advance to the Super Regional.

The previous highest average attendance for a regional at Reckling Park was in 2008 (4,446) when a total of 26,674 fans watched six games as Rice advanced to the Supers with a defeat of Texas.

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