Baseball 4/3/2009 12:00:00 AM

Hoggies Win in Extra Innings

Robert Cox had four RBI's and drove in the winning run on Friday night

KINGSVILLE, TEXAS – The Texas A&M-Kingsville baseball team fell behind 5-0 to visiting Lone Star Conference rival Tarleton State on Friday night after four innings, but came back to tie the game in the ninth inning and won the game in the 10th inning, 7-6 at Nolan Ryan Field. (box score)

The Texans (17-20-1, 13-15-1) scored a run in each of the first two innings and then exploded for three runs in the top of the fourth. Charlie Ulbricht doubled in a run and later scored John Ropple’s single to highlight the inning.

The Javelinas (16-22, 12-18) loaded the bases in the first inning and left two more runners on in the fourth inning before finally breaking through in the fifth inning. Brandon Rohr (Anaheim, CA/Orange Lutheran HS) singled to lead off the inning and scored on Clifton Thomas’ (San Diego, CA/El Cajon Valley HS) double. Robert Cox (Corpus Christi/Calallen HS) drove in Thomas with a single.

The Texans tacked on a run to their lead in the top of the seventh to make it 6-2. In the bottom half of the inning, Rohr led off with another single. Thomas followed with a single and Rohr came around to score after a Texan error. Cox followed with his second RBI single of the game to cut the lead to 6-4.

In the bottom of the eighth inning, the Javs loaded the bases after two outs and Cox was walked with the bases loaded to make it a 6-5 game. The Hoggies tied the game in the bottom of the ninth inning when A.J. Hecker (Orange/Bridge City HS) hit a sacrifice fly to score Justin Ariki (Honolulu, HI/Punahou HS).

In the 10th inning, Thomas led off the inning with his second double and fourth hit of the game. That set the stage for Cox who came through with his third hit of the game, scoring Thomas and winning the game. Cox finished the game 3-for-5 with four RBI’s.

The Javelina relief pitchers proved to be very effective in the game after starting pitcher Wes Callihan (Corpus Christi/Calallen HS) was pulled after 3.1 innings. Steven Hooker (Houston/Spring Woods HS) pitched 3.0 innings allowing just two hits and one run. Tim Hanan (Groves/Port Neches-Groves HS) followed with 2.0 scoreless innings that included two strikeouts. Tim Jones (Lake Jackson/Brazosport HS) finished up the game pitching a perfect 1.2 innings to earn the victory.

The Javelina offense banged out 17 hits in the game. In addition to the seven hits that Thomas and Cox had, Rohr went 3-for-5 with two runs and Hecker went 3-for-4 with an RBI.

The Texans were led by Chad Cloud’s three hits while Ropple and Chris Casazza each had a pair of safeties. Starting pitcher Josh Kelley worked 5.0 innings allowing six hits, two runs and two walks while striking out four. He was in line to pick up the win had the team held on. Garrett Woods was handed the loss after allowing three runs in 2.2 innings.

The two teams will meet again on Saturday in a 1 o’clock doubleheader. The Javelinas will wear a camouflage uniform to honor the military. NAS-Kingsville Commanding Officer Captain Philip Waddingham will throw out the first pitch.
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