April 26, 2003
COLUMBIA, Mo. - Junior RHP Andy Shipman (Bellevue, Neb.) shut down the Texas A&M offense in the final 6-1/3 innings on Saturday, shutting out the 13th-ranked Aggies down the stretch to lead 19th-ranked Mizzou to a 7-6 win in the middle game of the two teams' Big 12 series Saturday afternoon at Taylor Stadium. With the win, played before a Taylor Stadium season-high crowd of 1,121, Mizzou (28-14, 12-7 Big 12) pulls back to within a half-game of the Aggies for third place in the Big 12.
It is the second straight Saturday win for Shipman (6-2), who struck out five Aggies and scattered five hits over the final 6-2/3. He allowed just one runner to get to third, and that came in the sixth when he hit Justin Ruggiano and gave up a single to right by Scott Beerer. Yet he was able to get Jordy Mitchell to ground into a 5-4-3 double play to end the inning. Shipman also got a twin-killing to end the seventh.
Freshman 3B Zane Taylor (Kirksville, Mo.) drove in the game-winning run in the sixth. Two batters earlier, sophomore DH Bo Davis (Tulsa, Okla.) notched his second career extra-base hit with a two-out double to left off A&M's Dan Donaldson (1-2).
Junior 1B Cody Ehlers (Stillwater, Okla.) put the Tigers up 1-0 in the first when he hit a 2-2 pitch off A&M starter Matt Farnum into left field. Senior CF Jayce Tingler (Smithville, Mo.), who was 3-for-3 on the day with two RBI and two runs scored, came home from third after leading off the game with a walk, stealing second and advancing to third on a grounder to short by Taylor.
Texas A&M (34-13, 13-7) got three runs in the second off sophomore RHP Garrett Broshuis (Advance, Mo.). With one out and runners on second and third following base hits from Justin Pouk and Eric Scheidt, Matt Alexander hit a sacrifice fly to right to score Pouk. Scheidt came home on an RBI single by Erik Schindewolf, who scored on a double to left by Eric Pennington.
The Aggies batted around in the third on their way to three more runs. Mitchell had an RBI groundout after the first two batters singled off Broshuis and advanced on a passed ball. Scheidt got an RBI single to left, and Pennington got a bases-loaded RBI infield single to chase Broshuis.
Yet the Tigers were able to tie the game with a pair in the fifth. Tingler and Taylor led off with back-to-back singles, and a sacrifice bunt by junior SS Ian Kinsler (Tucson, Ariz.) preceded a double to right by Ehlers, who was 2-for-3 with three RBI.
"We had a great crowd, the weather was fantastic; I was happy with our effort in every way. It was just a great baseball game," Head Coach Tim Jamieson said. "Andy Shipman changed the momentum of the game. They were getting good swings off Garrett Broshuis, and they didn't on Andy. He just did a great job. We made defensive plays when we needed them, we pitched well, and the offense was good. I know our guys will be pumped tomorrow to try for another series win."
Sunday's series finale will be preceded by the retiring of the first player jersey in Tiger history. All-America two-sport standout Phil Bradley will have his No. 15 baseball jersey retired in a pre-game ceremony that is scheduled to begin at 12:45 p.m. In addition to a plaque that has been installed on the Taylor Stadium concourse, Bradley's No. 15 will be unveiled on the center-field wall in advance of the 1 p.m. first pitch. Junior RHP Derek Roper (Elk City, Okla.) will put his 4-1 record on the line against Aggie right-hander Zach Dixon (5-1).