Print story | Email story

Newmann pitches Ags past Kansas State

Special to the Eagle

MANHATTAN, Kan. - David Newmann pitched eight innings without allowing an earned run, and Craig Stinson homered and drove in two runs to lead Texas A&M past Kansas State 2-1 at Tointon Family Stadium on Saturday.

Newmann (9-1) allowed an unearned run on three hits, while striking out eight and walking one.

Stinson accounted for both of the A&M runs with a sacrifice fly in the fourth and a solo home run in the seventh. It was his ninth home run of the year and gave the Aggies the lead for good.

"The offense has carried us for the most part the last couple of months," A&M head coach Rob Childress said. "We made some big plays defensively, and we were able to get some big outs when we needed them."

With the victory, the Aggies (40-11, 13-9 Big 12) assured themselves of no lower than a fifth-place finish in the final Big 12 standings. They also became the 16th team in school history to win at least 40 games.

Gary Campfield replaced Newmann in the ninth and walked Adam Muenster to start the inning. Kirkland Rivers took the mound, and Byron Wiley, Kansas State's leading hitter, laid down a sacrifice bunt to move Muenster to second. Rivers struck out Derek Bunker and coaxed Nate Tenbrink to fly out to center to end the game and secure his second save of the year.

Kansas State (31-19, 9-13) scored the first run of the game in the bottom of the second. With two outs and nobody on, Eli Rumler drew a two-out walk and stole second. Tyler Ruch laced a ball down the third-base line that Dane Carter fielded while diving. His throw was wild to first and allowed Rumler to score.

Wildcats' starting pitcher Trevor Hurley (1-3) threw six innings and faced one batter in the seventh before coming out, allowing two runs on five hits. He struck out a career-high seven batters and walked one.

The final game of the three-game series is set for 1 p.m. Sunday.