By RICHARD CROOME
Eagle Staff Writer

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Just as Jose Duran was snagging a line drive off the bat of Baylor's Dustin Dickerson on Saturday, German Duran stroked his first major league hit.

It's been a busy and productive spring for the brothers, Jose as the shortstop for the Big 12-leading Texas A&M Aggies and German as a member of the Texas Rangers' organization.

The two talk regularly, but despite A&M's and Jose's success, the phone conversations have been a little one-sided of late. German was recently brought up from Triple-A Oklahoma City to the Rangers.

"He called me the night before [joining the Rangers] and said, 'I'm just calling to tell you that I got the call,'" Jose Duran said. "He was really excited, and I just told him congratulations and talked to him a little bit."

German, an infielder by trade, was in left field playing in front of the Green Monster on Saturday for his second start in the majors. Jose watched the replay later after hearing from his brother that the thing he remembered most was the fans being so intense and crazy, especially in the left-field area.

"He's doing his thing every day, and whenever he does something good I'm real proud of him because I've seen all the hard work he puts into it," Jose said. "It's motivating to me. I don't get jealous, because it pushes me to do the same thing he's doing."

Duran, a transfer from North Central Texas College, is eligible for this year's MLB draft and might follow in his brother's footsteps. But he also says he is satisfied where he's at, starting at shortstop for the No. 6 Aggies (34-7, 15-3 Big 12).

"I want to come back just because of the atmosphere and everything," Duran said. "I'm having fun here, but if the opportunity is there, if it's right under every condition, I might go. Right now, I'm not worried about the draft or anything. I'm just worried about getting our team to Omaha."

And Duran is doing his part to get the Aggies to the College World Series.

The junior is batting .398 in his first season with the Aggies. And he is carrying an 11-game hitting streak into this weekend's Big 12 series at Olsen Field against No. 10 Missouri (29-11, 9-6 Big 12).

Over his hitting streak, Duran is hitting .429 with two home runs and 16 RBIs.

"We couldn't have asked him to do a better job than he's done up to this point," A&M head coach Rob Childress said. "We knew what he was capable of doing at junior college. He had done it for two years. We felt like we had replaced Brandon Hicks with Jose, no doubt, but we didn't really know him until the lights came on and the uniform was on. That's when we understood how truly competitive he is. As we've gotten to know him in game settings, he's so similar to Brandon, just a little bit quieter but as fiercely competitive."

Hicks left after last season when the Atlanta Braves drafted him in the third round. Duran has been a perfect replacement, playing every inning for A&M this season until Childress took him out in the eighth Tuesday with the Aggies leading Texas State by 10 runs.

At 5-foot-11, 190 pounds, Duran doesn't look like the prototypical cleanup hitter, but he's hitting like one. He's second on the team in hitting, (.398), total bases (103), doubles (9) and triples (6) and third in RBIs (43) and runs (41).

"With what we try to do offensively, we felt he'd be up there somewhere, and it just works out that we've got the four guys at the top that not only can run but can bang it, too," Childress said. "We felt like he'd hit in there and have Darby [Brown] and Luke [Anders] hit 5, 6 or 7. That's what we had hoped for."

What Duran is hoping for is a trip to Omaha, Neb., which is why he chose A&M over the other universities he visited.

"That was a main factor, especially after going to see a couple other schools where the coaches didn't seem as involved and as proud of how they coach compared to here," Duran said. "They said they are going to work you to the best of their ability to get you to Omaha."

NOTES -- A&M's Dane Carter was one of 50 players named to the Dick Howser Trophy watch list Thursday. The senior third baseman is batting .434, leads the nation in triples with eight and is sixth in hits with 71. Missouri starting pitcher Aaron Crow and outfielder Jacob Priday (.357, 13 homers) were also selected. Nebraska pitcher Johnny Dorn was the only other Big 12 nominee.

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