Joe Fowler wasnt perfect Tuesday afternoon, but he was pretty darn close.Fowler, a senior transfer from Lamar, struck out 10 and held Texas A&M hitless through seven innings as the Bearkats capitalized on two Aggie errors to beat A&M 2-1 Tuesday afternoon in baseball action at Holleman Field.I felt good all day, said Fowler, whose outing in Tuesday follows up strong performances against Texas and Tulane. It was the first time all year that I really had command of all three of my pitches.After the game, Bearkat coach John Skeeters wasnt surprised by the performance of his newest right-hander.I think I am the beneficiary of getting a guy [from Lamar] that has always been a pretty good pitcher, but had never put it all together mentally, Skeeters said. I think that this year Joe is beginning to really believe in himself. He has learned how to focus. Thats not so much my coaching as his maturity.Despite Fowlers dominance of a powerful Aggie line-up, he was quick to credit his defense. We didnt have any errors today, Fowler said. The defense played a heck of a game.And while the Bearkats had a stellar game in the field, it was defense that cost the Aggies as both SHSU runs scored in the error-filled eighth inning.Bearkat shortstop Sal Carbajal led off the inning with a single. The next batter, Christian Dennie popped a bunt attempt back to the Aggie pitcher Matt Farnam who caught the ball and tried to double off Carbajal at first. The throw went wide and Carbajal took second. C.J. Wright then laced a single to left. Carbajal scored from third seconds later on a wild pitch. Wright scored all the way from second when Aggie first baseman Steven Ponder misplayed a dribbler hit by Clint House.That goes back to the old, old baseball adage that more baseball games are lost than won, Skeeters said. We didnt do anything spectacular to win it, other than our pitching. And in the end, they lost it.The Bearkat lead was jeopardized in the top of the ninth when A&Ms Eric Reed scored on a questionable balk called, but with the tying run on second, Fowler retired the final two hitters to notch his first win as a Bearkat.The win improves the Bearkats to 3-7 on the young season as they prepare to travel San Antonio this weekend to participate in the St. Marys Classic tournament. I think we are going to come out of these games with a lot of confidence…We always knew we could win in practice, Fowler said. We knew we had a good team. Now its a definite.
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