FORT WORTH -- Oregon State's string of winning nine straight elimination games in NCAA baseball tournament play trumped Texas A&M's run of avoiding elimination in six consecutive regional contests.
The 2006 and '07 national champions dumped six runs on the Aggies in the first inning Sunday and went on to win 13-5, earning another shot at TCU in the Fort Worth Regional.
A&M finished the season, one in which they were the preseason No. 1 in one polls, at 37-24.
"Just take it one pitch at a time, one inning," Oregon State coach Pat Casey said. "We really focused on being tough, trying to not let somebody take something away from you, the passion, desire to not being eliminated."
The Aggies had done a good job of being tough and playing with passion over the past few years and continued that through the first two days at Lupton Stadium. It may have been too much to ask for one more time, especially after having to climb out of another deep hole.
A&M led only one inning out of 29 in the tournament -- the final one on Saturday against Wright State.
"My disappointment is not in our guys, it's for our guys. They gave it everything," A&M coach Rob Childress said. "The only reason you have disappointment is because of expectations and nobody's expectations for this program are higher than the people within it, and that's the coaches and players."
The Beavers held all the cards after the opening frame, getting their leadoff hitter on board on a third-strike passed ball.
Adalberto Santos followed with a single up the middle, Koa Kahalehoe showed bunt, then swung away and slapped a shot toward A&M shortstop Adam Smith, who was covering second and was only able to knock the ball down.
Smith then saved one run, momentarily, by getting a glove on Ortiz's infield hit up the middle that did plate Michael Miller.
Jarred Norris followed with a double that went off the left-field fence, scoring Santos and Kahalehoe.
A&M then traded an out for a run on Steven Romero's grounder to third. Clayton Ehlert (5-2) got John Wallace to fly out, but the bottom two hitters in OSU's lineup -- Joey Wong and John Tommasini -- both doubled to drive in the fifth and sixth runs of the inning.
"Disappointing game to say the least," Childress said. "[They had] bases loaded after a strikeout and two infield hits and then they got big hits, and we're playing catch-up from the word go."
The deficit grew insurmountable from there. Ehlert was unable to make it out of the second inning after Ryan Ortiz supplemented Oregon State's small-ball and timely hitting with a towering homer to left.
Ortiz's homer was the seventh hit in 13 plate appearances for the Beavers up to that point. They didn't get a hit until the sixth inning of their 13-1 loss to TCU on Saturday.
"Well, last night we were sitting here talking about how we couldn't hit," Casey said.
Kahalehoe was 5 for 5 on Sunday after going 3 for 4 on Friday against the Aggies. He came in hitting .215 and was moved up to the No. 3 hole "on a hunch," Casey said. Ortiz, in his customary cleanup spot, went 4 for 6.
Oregon State added a run in the third and made it a double digit-lead at 11-0 with three more in the fifth.
By that time, Childress was on his fifth pitcher.
Meanwhile, Beaver junior right-hander Jorge Reyes was rolling along, showing the form that made him Most Outstanding Player in the 2007 College World Series.
"The guys had been talking about going all-out and our backs are against the wall," Reyes said. "I told myself, 'Go as hard as you can as long as you can,' and it worked out."
Reyes (6-2) threw a complete game, giving up 10 hits and three earned runs.
One of the hits was a long home run by Joe Patterson in the sixth. It was his second of the tournament and 12th of the season.
A&M got to Reyes for two runs in the eighth on singles by Luke Anders and Patterson and a two-run double by Caleb Shofner, who finished the tourney 7 for 12 with two homers and six RBIs.
Oregon State made two errors in the ninth, and Anders followed with an RBI ground out before Kyle Colligan got an RBI single in his final at-bat as an Aggie.
*
NOTES -- Three seniors -- Anders, Colligan and Kyle Thebeau -- led the Aggie program to 156 wins, three NCAA tournament appearances, two Big 12 titles and back-to-back regional crowns for the first time in school history during their four seasons at A&M. ... Colligan ranks among the school's all-time leaders in several categories -- home runs (fifth, 42), runs scored (sixth, 189), hits (eighth, 241), doubles (10th, 43) RBIs (10th, 144) and stolen bases (10th, 44). ... Anders was sixth in homers with 40 and seventh in RBIs at 157. ... Thebeau holds the school mark for appearances with 103 and is sixth with 259 strikeouts.
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Posted by: BEVO in Walton Hall On: 6/3/2009
Comment Title: N.A. A.
Normal Aggie Activity. Fire a great coach, get a nobody coach, start the season overrated, and in the end cannot finish. Typical.
Posted by: On: 6/2/2009
Comment Title:
Took the words right out of my mouth....and that guys mouth...and that lady's mouth...oh, and his mouth....and that persons mouth....and every koolaid stained mouth that dared to open for the last 10 years.
Posted by: On: 6/2/2009
Comment Title:
Wait 'til next year.
Posted by: On: 6/2/2009
Comment Title: RE.."never called childress a bum...."
Man, your comments fit the football team just as well. see a common thread here.
Posted by: miller58 On: 6/2/2009
Comment Title: _______________AGS ARE VERY GULLIBLE !_______________
My personal opinions:_____Ags, don't be so gullible!_____CHILDRESS' poor coaching and worse recruiting, plus spin from the AGGIE SPIN MACHINE does not in anyway equal to CHILDRESS' great coaching and great recruiting!_____It's still just CHILDRESS' poor coaching and worse recruiting, only with bs added for gullible Ags!_____miller58
Posted by: On: 6/2/2009
Comment Title:
never called childress a bum. Underacheiving can be said. Agree, he could have made excuses and he did not. I respect him for that. However, the argument that losing everyday players cannot be made because the draft does that to every school. I am more frustrated with the lack of "preparedness" than anything else. Talent evaluation might be the next thing, but it is too early to tell. Also, he has to figure out why his teams lose steam towards the end of the year. Never called for him to go, but stated we got just as much or better with the previous coach. Next year will be a huge factor in my mind. Have not heard of any negative stories about childress and that is a good thing. But barely beating a team, wright state, who you schooled earlier in the year should be a wake up call on how the team is run in the future. Tough job, high expectations, but he took the on that responsibility when he cashed his first check. I am cheering for him and his program. Hope they learned a few things this year to implement in the future. If not, then Johnson needs a building named after him.
Posted by: Pablo On: 6/1/2009
Comment Title: Tough, tough loss in Ft. Worth
As Coach said it, no one is more disappointed than the players and coaches, especially since this appeared as a top ranked team that didn't live up to expectations. I hope they can reload in all the right places and I hope this "bitter pill" serves to encourage the team to find an answer for next year. Don't agree with the assessment that Childress is a bum, I think we will be in the mix while he is here, we just need to find that lighting in a bottle! Go AGS!
Posted by: On: 6/1/2009
Comment Title:
You know he lost 5 everyday players from last season so you should consider the bare cupboard excuse or maybe he even had some bad attitudes in the bullpen that thought they should have been starting. Or maybe it was the injuries to the pitching staff. Or maybe it was just like football and a classic case of underachievement. We expect more from an offensive line with a head coach who is a specialist there and we expect more from a pitching staff with a head coach who is a pitching specialist. Give him credit for standing up and saying it was he who failed, nothing more, nothing less.
Posted by: rellim85 On: 6/1/2009
Comment Title: Mirror time
Time for the AD, Coaches & Players to take a deep look into the mirror. Much was expected from this team, this year, and it didn't happen. Why? Look into that mirror guys and reflect.
Posted by: On: 6/1/2009
Comment Title: Baseball
Childress is a fine coach. In the end the players need to perform. They did their best. Good season.
Posted by: On: 6/1/2009
Comment Title:
Took the words right out of my mouth! We got rid of a great man and coach for this? Johnson went to a regional with less! Thanks $bill, your nebraska connections are paying off! Two words that sum up this years team........"PAPER TIGERS". Childress is the FRAN of baseball!
Posted by: On: 6/1/2009
Comment Title: Hmmm
Seems like I recall that the previous coach was fired because the athletic director wanted a coach to take the Aggie baseball program to the "next level". The only difference I see is more empty seats at Olsen. Congrats to this year's seniors, whom I believe were recruited before the firing.