Nearly perfect
Flirting with perfection in the ninth inning at Haymarket Park on Saturday afternoon, Texas A&M pitcher Zach Jackson ended up needing to win a battle against the top hitter in the Big 12 Conference.
Considering how dominant he'd been, the left-handed junior felt perfectly comfortable with those odds and proceeded to strike out Alex Gordon with a runner at second to cap the 10th-ranked Aggies' 4-2 win against No. 19 Nebraska.
"Coach wanted me to walk him," said Jackson, who had retired the first 24 batters before Nebraska gave many of the 5,513 fans who stuck around reason to think the Huskers would pull off their second ninth-inning comeback of the week. "All respect in the world to Gordon, but it was just the competitive spirit, lefty on lefty. I told them no, I wanted to take him myself."
Jackson, a transfer from Louisville who threw a seven-inning no-hitter in the Aggies' Feb. 14 season-opening win against A&M-Corpus Christi, struck Gordon out on five pitches.
After looking at two pitches, Gordon swung and missed a 1-1 curveball. Jackson then came back with a tailing fastball that eluded another swing.
"He pitched a helluva game," said NU's sophomore third baseman, who had a 14-game hitting streak snapped. "I didn't think he did anything different (after losing the perfect game).
"That curveball was a pretty good pitch I could drive. I just missed it. He attacked. He wanted to get after people."
Jackson's 11th strikeout brought an end to Nebraska's 15-game home-winning streak against top-10 opponents.
The Huskers broke up his gem when Jesse Boyer led off the ninth with an infield single, then threatened to spoil Jackson's mood.
Boyer ended up at second on the play after Jackson threw wildly to first, and after plunking Tyler Vaughn with his next toss, Jackson then gave up an RBI double to Joe Simokaitis, the hero in NU's 4-1 win on Friday night.
That drew A&M pitching coach Jim Lawler out of the dugout for a quick chat with the 6-foot-5, 220-pounder from Cranberry Township, Pa., and Jackson took it to heart.
After Colin Shockey produced NU's second run with a fielder's choice groundout to shortstop, Jackson fanned Daniel Bruce on three pitches before getting Gordon.
"I thought, 'Top of the order coming up for us, that's a good way to come back. Shockey-Bruce-Gordon, that's a good way to sneak one, to steal it,' " Simokaitis said. "But it didn't happen. He still came after us."
Jackson settled for a two-hitter, marking the first time since a 6-2 loss to Baylor at last year's Big 12 Tournament that the Huskers had been held to that few hits.
"We strike out that much and don't put the ball in play, stuff like that happens," Simokaitis said.
Nebraska coach Mike Anderson, whose team fell to 30-13 overall and 10-9 in the Big 12, agreed.
"He was fantastic," he said of Jackson. "Being a hitting guy, I never like to give credit to a pitcher. But you've got to there."
Leading 1-0 thanks to an unearned second-inning run, A&M (34-13 and 10-9) gave Jackson more than enough support by stringing together five straight hits while scoring three times in the fourth.
The first four hits came off Phil Shirek (5-1). Justin Pekarek replaced the right-handed junior and threw five scoreless innings, but A&M had done enough damage.
The Huskers, trying to avoid dropping a fourth straight Big 12 series, will send right-handed junior Dustin Timm (2-2, 2.97 ERA) to the mound for today's 1:05 p.m. contest. A&M will counter with right-handed junior Kyle Marlatt (3-1, 7.12).
Reach Curt McKeever at 473-7441 or cmckeever@;journalstar.com.
texas a&m 4, nebraska 2
Texas A&M ab r h bi Nebraska ab r h bi
Pennington ss 5 0 0 0 Shockey cf 4 0 0 1
Mavroulis 1b 5 1 1 0 Bruce rf 4 0 0 0
Patton rf 5 1 4 0 Gordon 3b 4 0 0 0
Boggs 3b 5 1 2 1 Ledbetter 1b 3 0 0 0
Stinson c 4 0 1 1 Mullinax 2b 3 0 0 0
Infante cf 4 1 1 1 Grose c 3 0 0 0
Baldwin dh 3 0 0 0 Boyer lf 3 1 1 0
Bowe ph 1 0 0 0 Vaughn dh 2 1 0 0
Bartek lf 4 0 1 0 Simokaitis ss 3 0 1 1
Alexander 2b 3 0 0 0
Totals 39 4 10 3 Totals 29 2 2 2
Texas A&M 010 030 000 - 4 10 1
Nebraska 000 000 002 - 2 2 2
E-Jackson (1), Mullinax (5), Simokaitis (8). LOB-Texas A&M 9, Nebraska 1. 2B-Boggs (8), Simokaitis (11). S-Infante (8), Bartek (3).
Texas A&M ip h r er bb so
Jackson W 9 2 2 2 0 11
Nebraska ip h r er bb so
Shirek L 4 8 4 3 1 0
Pekarek 5 2 0 0 0 4
W-Jackson (9-3). L-Shirek (5-1). HBP-by Jackson (Vaughn). T-2:22. A-5,513.
Considering how dominant he'd been, the left-handed junior felt perfectly comfortable with those odds and proceeded to strike out Alex Gordon with a runner at second to cap the 10th-ranked Aggies' 4-2 win against No. 19 Nebraska.
"Coach wanted me to walk him," said Jackson, who had retired the first 24 batters before Nebraska gave many of the 5,513 fans who stuck around reason to think the Huskers would pull off their second ninth-inning comeback of the week. "All respect in the world to Gordon, but it was just the competitive spirit, lefty on lefty. I told them no, I wanted to take him myself."
Jackson, a transfer from Louisville who threw a seven-inning no-hitter in the Aggies' Feb. 14 season-opening win against A&M-Corpus Christi, struck Gordon out on five pitches.
After looking at two pitches, Gordon swung and missed a 1-1 curveball. Jackson then came back with a tailing fastball that eluded another swing.
"He pitched a helluva game," said NU's sophomore third baseman, who had a 14-game hitting streak snapped. "I didn't think he did anything different (after losing the perfect game).
"That curveball was a pretty good pitch I could drive. I just missed it. He attacked. He wanted to get after people."
Jackson's 11th strikeout brought an end to Nebraska's 15-game home-winning streak against top-10 opponents.
The Huskers broke up his gem when Jesse Boyer led off the ninth with an infield single, then threatened to spoil Jackson's mood.
Boyer ended up at second on the play after Jackson threw wildly to first, and after plunking Tyler Vaughn with his next toss, Jackson then gave up an RBI double to Joe Simokaitis, the hero in NU's 4-1 win on Friday night.
That drew A&M pitching coach Jim Lawler out of the dugout for a quick chat with the 6-foot-5, 220-pounder from Cranberry Township, Pa., and Jackson took it to heart.
After Colin Shockey produced NU's second run with a fielder's choice groundout to shortstop, Jackson fanned Daniel Bruce on three pitches before getting Gordon.
"I thought, 'Top of the order coming up for us, that's a good way to come back. Shockey-Bruce-Gordon, that's a good way to sneak one, to steal it,' " Simokaitis said. "But it didn't happen. He still came after us."
Jackson settled for a two-hitter, marking the first time since a 6-2 loss to Baylor at last year's Big 12 Tournament that the Huskers had been held to that few hits.
"We strike out that much and don't put the ball in play, stuff like that happens," Simokaitis said.
Nebraska coach Mike Anderson, whose team fell to 30-13 overall and 10-9 in the Big 12, agreed.
"He was fantastic," he said of Jackson. "Being a hitting guy, I never like to give credit to a pitcher. But you've got to there."
Leading 1-0 thanks to an unearned second-inning run, A&M (34-13 and 10-9) gave Jackson more than enough support by stringing together five straight hits while scoring three times in the fourth.
The first four hits came off Phil Shirek (5-1). Justin Pekarek replaced the right-handed junior and threw five scoreless innings, but A&M had done enough damage.
The Huskers, trying to avoid dropping a fourth straight Big 12 series, will send right-handed junior Dustin Timm (2-2, 2.97 ERA) to the mound for today's 1:05 p.m. contest. A&M will counter with right-handed junior Kyle Marlatt (3-1, 7.12).
Reach Curt McKeever at 473-7441 or cmckeever@;journalstar.com.
texas a&m 4, nebraska 2
Texas A&M ab r h bi Nebraska ab r h bi
Pennington ss 5 0 0 0 Shockey cf 4 0 0 1
Mavroulis 1b 5 1 1 0 Bruce rf 4 0 0 0
Patton rf 5 1 4 0 Gordon 3b 4 0 0 0
Boggs 3b 5 1 2 1 Ledbetter 1b 3 0 0 0
Stinson c 4 0 1 1 Mullinax 2b 3 0 0 0
Infante cf 4 1 1 1 Grose c 3 0 0 0
Baldwin dh 3 0 0 0 Boyer lf 3 1 1 0
Bowe ph 1 0 0 0 Vaughn dh 2 1 0 0
Bartek lf 4 0 1 0 Simokaitis ss 3 0 1 1
Alexander 2b 3 0 0 0
Totals 39 4 10 3 Totals 29 2 2 2
Texas A&M 010 030 000 - 4 10 1
Nebraska 000 000 002 - 2 2 2
E-Jackson (1), Mullinax (5), Simokaitis (8). LOB-Texas A&M 9, Nebraska 1. 2B-Boggs (8), Simokaitis (11). S-Infante (8), Bartek (3).
Texas A&M ip h r er bb so
Jackson W 9 2 2 2 0 11
Nebraska ip h r er bb so
Shirek L 4 8 4 3 1 0
Pekarek 5 2 0 0 0 4
W-Jackson (9-3). L-Shirek (5-1). HBP-by Jackson (Vaughn). T-2:22. A-5,513.
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