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Texas A&M shortstop Jose Duran leaps for a chopped ground ball that scored two runs in the sixth inning of Game 2 Sunday. Rice edged the Aggies 6-5 and swept A&M to advance to the College World Series.

Same song, second verse

Odd coaching moves changed the momentum and were the catalyst in the Game 2 loss

By: Jack Molitor

Posted: 6/9/08

Head Coach Rob Childress has always been an aggressive coach, willing to play small ball and run all over opponents. It has worked many times, but it cannot be expected to work against championship calibur teams like Rice. And there was no reason for it Sunday the way the Aggies were hitting.

Since the postseason began, the hitting maladies that plagued the Aggies at the end of the Big 12 schedule quickly became a thing of the past. They scored 53 runs in four games in the regional, and even in the Saturday loss to Rice they plated seven and took good cuts.

So it was odd that Childress was trying to outsmart a fundamentally sound team. The first questionable move came in the second inning when a double-steal attempt went awry, killing a potential rally.

But the attempt to steal home in the fourth was a head-scratcher. Not only did the Aggies already have seven hits, but they were in the heads of the Owl's pitchers. Freshman starter Mike Ojala walked three and seemed to be unable to reach the catcher's mitt, and his relievers did not have much better control. But when the Aggies ran into senseless outs when they had the Owls on the ropes, it emboldened Rice and gave them back the homefield advantage.

The Aggie bats were not the same the rest of the night, with one hit after the fourth inning. And it was up to the pitching staff to hang on against a perennial College World Series team that smelled blood, had momentum and had the home field.

Being aggressive and opportunistic is understandable. Making an offense that is hot second-guess itself is not. The disappointing thing is the Aggies were good enough to beat the Owls if they had just played their game.

But the more experienced team, and coach, won.