Kevin Gonzalez caught the strikeout pitch to end the sixth inning and tossed the ball back out onto the field, where it rolled up the pitcher's mound and came to rest perfectly against the rubber.
It served as a pretty fair metaphor for the Texas A&M baseball team's weekend series against Washington State. The Aggies took two of three games from the 25th-ranked Cougars, winning the finale 6-5 on a gorgeous Sunday afternoon at Olsen Field.
Although the Aggies were not flawless -- losing the middle game and fielding shabbily throughout the series -- it was perfect preparation for the start of Big 12 Conference play next weekend.
"We couldn't have asked for anything more this weekend, other than three wins, to prepare us for next week against Texas Tech," A&M coach Rob Childress said. "It was a great weekend for us. It was a good test going into conference."
Gonzalez's sixth-inning toss also reflected Washington State's biggest failing against A&M. The Cougars, who brought a robust .349 team batting average into the series, struck out 12 times Sunday and 36 times in the three games.
"I thought we got out-competed a little bit," WSU coach Donnie Marbut said. "We left too many guys on base. We struck out too many times. That was the theme for the entire weekend. They've got really, really good arms, but I just think that we've got to put the ball in play more than we did."
Marbut's praise of the Aggies' competitiveness might mean as much to Childress as a well-pitched game or a timely hit.
"We've gotta out-compete people and beat them as a team," Childress said. "We're not good enough talent-wise to just overwhelm people."
Senior Brodie Greene delivered a great game in the series finale, hitting a pair of two-run homers. Greene's second home run gave the Aggies a two-run lead in the seventh inning, allowing A&M to reap the rewards of strong relief pitching by Clayton Ehlert and John Stilson.
Greene connected for his first home run of the season in the first inning. Both of Greene's long balls came after teammates coaxed key walks, with leadoff man Andrew Collazo battling through nine pitches in the first and Scott Arthur reaching with two outs in the seventh.
"It's not just one or two guys doing it," Greene said. "The whole team is pitching in. Scott drew a big two-out walk right there to get on base. When we're working together, we're hard to stop."
Defense is an easy choice as the part of the game most likely to stop A&M. For the series, the Aggies committed five errors and allowed four unearned runs.
Although the plays were not ruled errors, defensive shortcomings cost the Aggies four runs that were correctly registered as earned. On Sunday, the Cougars scored twice in a third inning extended when Aggie left fielder Brandon Wood turned the wrong way in pursuit of a fly ball that fell for a double.
A&M's infield defense was shaky throughout the series. Childress tried three different players at shortstop, and the Aggies failed to turn a couple of possible double plays. The inability to complete a double play cost A&M a run in Friday's 4-3 victory.
"Defensively we've got to be much better if we're gonna win on a consistent basis," Childress said. "That's one thing that we're not very good at right now. There were a lot more [misplays] in the game than errors on the board.
"We've gotta be aggressive. We're aggressive on the mound. We're aggressive at the plate. We need to be aggressive defensively."
An error by third baseman Matt Juengel led to an unearned run as the Cougars scored twice in the second inning to tie the finale. Washington State didn't need any help scoring two runs in the third, knocking A&M starter Nick Fleece out of the game and bringing in Ehlert.
The Aggies took a brief 4-2 lead with two runs courtesy of small ball in the bottom of the second. Juengel reached on an error by WSU reliever Travis Cook and scored when No. 9 hitter Wood pulled a double into the left-field corner. Wood swiped third and scored on the next pitch as Collazo executed a solid suicide squeeze bunt.
Ehlert pitched 3 2/3 scoreless innings, putting the Aggies in position to use super sophomore Stilson (4-0). The transfer from Texarkana College was touched for a leadoff homer to Michael Weber in the eighth, but he retired the last six hitters while striking out three and not allowing a ball out of the infield.
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NOTES -- Cougars outfielder Kyle Johnson returned to Olsen Field on Sunday after suffering a concussion in a frightening collision with teammate Derek Jones in the ninth inning of Saturday's game. Johnson, who was not in uniform for the series finale, received a warm welcome from the crowd of 3,343 when he was introduced before the game. ... The baseball given to Johnson at the College Station Medical Center on Saturday night was supplied by A&M fan Steve Round of Bryan. Round retrieved the home run ball hit by Cody Bartlett in the second inning and planned to keep it as a souvenir because it had a Pac 10 stamp, but he took it to the hospital after Johnson's injury.
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