Special to The Eagle
OMAHA, Neb. -- For seven scoreless innings, Texas A&M pitcher Ross Stripling was an artist, showcasing his craft for all of college baseball to witness.
"Stripling was very effective," South Carolina coach Ray Tanner said. "It's hard to square up his breaking ball, and he became real good as the game wore on."
But in his first-ever inning in the College World Series, the slow-starting Stripling ran into an immense amount of trouble. That struggle was the key in South Carolina's walk-off 5-4 win that puts A&M squarely on the brink of elimination.
"I just wanted to come out and throw strikes and deal with my nerves," Stripling said. "I just wasn't quite ready for it."
He toed the rubber with a seemingly insurmountable lead after the Aggies capitalized on some South Carolina errors, while providing some timely hitting in scoring four runs and shocking the defending national champions in the top half of the first.
"The game couldn't have started any better for us," A&M coach Rob Childress said. "It felt like we were going to roll and just like that, the nerves got to us a little bit."
After three singles, a walk and a costly error by second baseman Andrew Collazo, that four-run cushion had dissipated as quickly as it had arrived. From there, though, the Third-Team All-American settled in and went toe-to-toe with USC ace Michael Roth in giving the baseball fans of Nebraska the pitching duel they were anxiously expecting.
"It was a lot of fun," Stripling said. "I could tell what all the hype about him was about. He was a great pitcher, so hats off to him ... Too bad I came out on the wrong side of the stick, but it happens when you're going up against somebody as good as he is."
After struggling with his command in the first inning, Roth began to locate his pitches, striking out eight Aggies while giving the A&M bats very little to take advantage of. He endured through 123 pitches in a solid 7 1/3 innings despite walking five batters.
"Roth did what he's accustomed to doing for us," Tanner said. "He gave us a chance to win."
Stripling, on the other hand, used his off-speed stuff to stifle the South Carolina batters. He gave up only seven hits while striking out six batters in eight innings. It was the 11th time the Aggies' workhorse went seven or more innings. He got into a tight spot in his final inning with one out and the winning runner in scoring position with the brunt of the Gamecocks lineup coming to the plate. But he escaped when he jammed Christian Walker into a weak lineout and got Brady Thomas to ground out.
"Both pitchers settled in and pitched extremely well," Childress said. "Ross got us out of a couple jams."
After the first inning, 15 zeroes in succession lit the scoreboard and the score was still knotted at four. But after eight innings and 114 pitches, Stripling was spent.
"He was done," Childress said. "He gave us a great start and he was finished."
That's when Childress had to turn to his shaky bullpen. Kyle Martin and Nick Fleece couldn't get the job done as Scott Wingo capped off a 4-for-4 night with a bases-loaded single to drive in the winning run and put the Aggies' season on the line.
Stripling's College World Series debut didn't start the way he imagined it would. But he rebounded and did his job. He gave his team a chance to win the ballgame. Now he must sit back and wait, hoping to get one more shot on the mound, one more shot for his teammates.
"We consider ourselves underdogs," Stripling said, "and we're going to play for us."
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