By ROBERT CESSNA
Texas A&M newcomer John Stilson continued to shine on the mound, while veterans Brodie Green, Joe Patterson and Caleb Shofner each had two hits in the Aggies' 5-3 victory over the Brigham Young Cougars on Wednesday afternoon at Olsen Field in nonconference baseball action.
Stilson earned his second save with 2 1/3 innings, striking out six, walking one and allowing one hit. The sophomore transfer from Texarkana College stretched his scoreless string to 12 1/3 innings with 18 strikeouts.
"He's an X-factor to say the least to be able to use him at any time," A&M head coach Rob Childress said.
Stilson was the fifth pitcher the Aggies used to halt a three-game winning streak by BYU (3-5). The group struck out 13 batters.
"That's something we talked about after the game," BYU coach Vance Law said.
The Aggie hitters were much more aggressive at the plate, led by Shofner who capped a three-run fifth inning with a booming two-run homer that made it 5-2.
"That was the difference in the game," Childress said.
BYU right-handed reliever David Parry (0-1) retired the first two batters in the bottom of the fifth, but Greene laced a double down the left-field line. Senior Patterson ripped an RBI single to right to stretch his hitting streak to 13 games.
"Joe Patterson is our guy without question in the four-hole," Childress said. "If we're facing Joe Patterson, we're going to pitch around him more often than not. To have somebody back there to protect him has been very important for us so far, and Shofner's been that guy."
Shofner followed Patterson with his fourth homer of the season off a hanging slider.
"I was just looking for a good pitch to hit and drove in those runs," Shofner said. "I was able to put a pretty good swing on it."
Shofner leads the Aggies (6-2) with 13 runs batted in.
"[Greene and Patterson] are always on base," Shofner said. "They have great at-bats, and they really get after it."
A&M's clutch hitting made it easier for Stilson who really earned the save in the seventh.
BYU loaded the bases thanks to an error, single and walk, which chased A&M pitcher Shane Minks after a third of an inning. BYU's Alex Wolfe knocked in a run with a force-out against A&M pitcher Estevan Uriegas in a matchup of left-handers.
"[Uriegas] probably got as good a hitter as we've seen all season," Childress said.
That's when Childress went to Stilson. He threw two strikes to Jonathan Cluff, but Cluff battled back for a walk. Stilson then struck out Bryce Ayoso, who went 2 for 3.
"Stilson came in and slammed the door," Childress said. "I really didn't want him to go seven outs. I wanted him to go three or four."
A&M started senior right-hander Clayton Ehlert who allowed five hits and two runs over four innings, a vast improvement on the seven two-out runs he allowed in the third inning against Stephen F. Austin last week, a performance that drove his ERA to 23.62.
"It was important for us to get Ehlert back out there," Childress said. "I thought he pitched through some adversity and had four quality innings."
Michael Wacha (1-0) pitched two innings to pick up the victory, allowing one hit. Wacha struck out the side in the fifth but walked two batters. The freshman right-hander had walked only one in his first 10 2/3 innings.
A&M, which has won three straight, scored in the first when Greene singled in Scott Arthur who had doubled. BYU tied it in the third on Wolfe's two-out single which scored leadoff hitter Sean McNaughton who had tripled.
The teams exchanged runs in the fourth. BYU's Austin Hall singled in Ayoso who had doubled. The Aggies answered thanks to some shoddy fielding by the Cougars. Shofner singled off the glove of third baseman Hall. BYU shortstop Brandon Relf couldn't field Matt Juengel's grounder, which was the Cougars seventh error in the last four games. That allowed Kevin Gonzalez's one-out fly ball to plate Shofner.
A&M limited BYU, which had 13 hits in Tuesday's 7-5 victory at Baylor, to seven hits.
The Cougars, picked to finish fifth in the Mountain West Conference, will be at Texas-Arlington this weekend for a three-game series while A&M plays host to Winthrop.
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