COLLEGE STATION – One of the main reasons Texas A&M could find more success in 2010 than in 2009 is its ability to come through in the clutch.

Brodie Greene’s RBI triple with two outs in the bottom of the eighth sent Texas Tech to a 5-4 loss – its seventh in a row – and secured the Big 12 Conference series for the 23rd-ranked Aggies on a miserably cold and windy night at Olsen Field.

All five runs scored by the Aggies (15-3, 2-0 in Big 12) came with two outs. A&M came into the series hitting .387 as a team with two outs, up more than 100 points from last year’s average.

“We had a hard time putting them away,” said Tech head coach Dan Spencer, whose squad falls to 8-12 on the year and 0-2 in Big 12 play. “I thought we did a lot of things well as far as staying in the game, getting a knock here and a knock there. They’re a good club and they’re tougher at home. They play with a lot of intensity and they’re loose, and if you make a pitch and get it up a bit or out over the plate, they’ll put a good swing on it.”

With two outs in the eighth, Scott Arthur started the rally with a single to left off Tech reliever Jay Johnson. On a 2-2 pitch, Greene laced one just inside the line down right field to score Arthur, but the fireworks didn’t stop there.

After Arthur crossed home plate, a skirmish ensued between Johnson, Arthur and A&M designated hitter Joe Patterson. No punches were thrown or shoves exchanged, but both Johnson and Patterson were ejected as the benches emptied.

The preceding run was enough to make a winner out of reliever Michael Wacha (3-0), who allowed one unearned run in three innings with three strikeouts. Johnson, who relieved starter Bobby Doran in the sixth, took the loss to fall to 1-3 on the year. He scattered five hits and a walk and struck out three.

“Everyone’s frustrated, especially in Big 12,” said catcher Kevin Whitehead, whose two-run home run in the second tied the game after A&M had taken the early lead. “It’s a game of inches and that’s what it came down to, a couple of little things didn’t go our way that we didn’t do right and it ended up hurting us.”

Doran left after five and was on the losing side after a bases-loaded walk gave A&M a 4-3 lead in the fifth.

The Red Raiders were able to chase A&M starter Ross Stripling after just 22/3 innings. Stripling surrendered three runs on four hits with a pair of strikeouts, but relievers Jake Feckley and Esteban Uriegas kept Tech from doing more damage until turning it over to Wacha in the seventh.

A&M’s uncanny ability for two-out hitting led to a 2-0 lead in the second on a fielder’s choice and two-out RBI hits by Adam Smith and Tyler Naquin. Unlike Friday, though, Tech was able to answer.

A leadoff single by Taylor Ashby and Whitehead’s third home run of the season tied the game at 2-2. Two outs later, a hit batter and a bloop double by Michael Reed gave Tech the 3-2 advantage.

It stayed that way until Doran coughed up the lead in the fifth. He got the first two outs, but gave up a triple and an RBI bloop single by Patterson that Reed appeared to lose in the lights. After a Caleb Shofner double, consecutive walks to Kenny Jackson and Kevin Gonzalez put the Aggies back in front 4-3.

“We got big hits all night long,” A&M coach Rob Childress said. “I was really proud of the way we got after it tonight. We had great intensity. They were about to get through a clean inning with two outs and nobody on. Just like that, we string four or five great at-bats together.”

Tech caught a break to tie it in the seventh. With one out and a runner at first, Whitehead drew a walk. One out later, Jamodrick McGruder sent a high fly to deep right-center that came off the glove of Smith, allowing Ashby to score from second with the tying run.

A&M had a chance to retake the lead on a pair of one-out singles, but on a bouncer up the middle by Smith, shortstop Joey Kenworthy turned the double play to end the threat and keep the game scoreless before the Aggies took the lead in the eighth.

“We need to find some guys who will step up in the middle of our order and get us a big knock,” Spencer said. “We get one big knock in the middle of our lineup and other guys will follow and get us going. I was proud of how hard we played.

“We’re scuffling. We’re trying to get over the hump and we’re trying to get over the hump on the road against a good club. I like the way we compete. I like the way we get after it. We’re close, but we’ve got to get over the hump.”

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TEXAS TECH/A&M’s Greene smacks triple, scoring game-winning run

TEXAS A&M 5, TEXAS TECH 4

Texas Tech Texas A&M

ab r h bi ab r h bi

McGruder 2b 4 0 1 1 Collazo 2b 5 0 0 0 Kenworthy ss 3 1 0 0 Arthur cf 4 1 1 0

Reed lf 4 0 1 1 Greene ss 5 1 3 1

Barnes rf 4 0 1 0 Patterson dh 4 1 1 1

LeJeune dh 4 0 0 0 Parsons dh 0 0 0 0

Mayo 1b 4 0 0 0 Shofner 3b 4 0 2 0

Ashby cf 4 2 1 0 Jackson 1b 2 1 1 0

Whitehead c 3 1 1 2 Juengel 1b 2 0 1 0

Berry 3b 1 0 0 0 Gonzalez c 3 0 1 1

Altobelli 3b 2 0 0 0 Smith lf-rf 4 1 2 1

Wood rf 0 0 0 0

Naquin rf 2 0 1 1

Hinojosa lf 2 0 0 0

Totals 33 4 5 4 Totals 37 5 13 5

Texas Tech 003 000 100 – 4 5 1

Texas A&M 020 020 01x – 5 13 1

E-Kenworthy (6), Smith (7). DP-Texas Tech 1. LOB-Texas Tech 4, Texas A&M 13. 2B-Reed (9), Shofner (8), Smith (1), Naquin (2). 3B-Greene 2 (5). HR-Whitehead (3). SB-Barnes (5), Arthur (8), Parsons (1), Smith (2).

IP H R ER BB SO

Texas Tech

Doran 5 8 4 4 2 6

Johnson (L, 1-3) 22/3 5 1 1 1 3

Farrar 1/3 0 0 0 1 1

Texas A&M

Stripling 22/3 4 3 3 0 2

Feckley 3 1 0 0 0 2

Uriegas 1/3 0 0 0 0 0

Wacha (W, 3-0) 3 0 1 0 1 3

HBP-by Stripling (Kenworthy), by Farrar (Shofner).

WP-Doran (2), Stripling (3). PB-Gonzalez (1). U-Randy Bruns, Mike Morris, Randy Wetzel. T-3:12. A-3,195. Records: Texas Tech 8-12, 0-2; Texas A&M 15-3, 2-0.