March 02, 2003
The Texas A&M softball team, ranked 21st nationally, advanced to the championship game of the Stanford Classic after beating No. 11 Stanford and Long Beach State on Saturday. The Aggies knocked off the Cardinal 7-3 and beat the 49'ers 2-1 advancing to play No. 12 Georgia for the championship on Sunday.
The Aggies took on Stanford in an afternoon game at the Smith Family Stadium in Palo Alto and earned their second win over a top 25 team this season. The Aggies beat Fresno State, then ranked No. 15, 2-1 on February 8 in Phoenix.
In the game Stanford jumped out to an early 2-0 lead after putting runs on the board in the bottom of the first and third innings. The Aggies would answer with five runs of their own in the top of the sixth giving them a 5-1 lead they would not relinquish. The game turned in favor of the Aggies when Junior Nicole Robinson popped out to the Stanford second baseman but instead of the pop out being the second out for A&M the first base umpire called an illegal pitch that allowed Robinson to return to the plate. After stepping back into the batters box Robinson earned a walk and the momentum shifted A&M's way. The next three Aggie batters reached base on a walk and two hit by pitches bringing in Atkins, who reentered the game to run the bases, and cutting the Stanford lead in half. With the bases loaded and one out junior Lindsay Wilhelmson, who was also the A&M pitcher, had the opportunity to help herself by getting a hit and bringing in some Aggie runs. Wilhelmson took full advantage of the situation by hitting her third home run and first grand slam of the season over the left field wall giving the Aggies a 5-1 lead.
Stanford would add a run in the bottom of the sixth and the Aggies added two more in the top of the seventh as they beat Stanford 7-3 and advanced to the semifinal game as the two seed against Long Beach State.
In the nightcap versus Long Beach junior right-hander Jessica Slataper kept the 49'ers at bay by recording seven strikeouts in seven innings and allowing only two Long Beach hits as she was three outs away from a perfect game. Slataper retired the first 18 Long Beach batters before leadoff hitter Lauren Johnson came to bat in the top of the seventh and hit a double off the wall breaking up a perfect game and threatening the Aggies 2-0 lead. The next 49'er batter grounded out to third before Arleigh Thorp hit a triple driving in Johnson and cutting the A&M lead in half. One run was all Slataper would allow as she recorded the final two outs of the game by fielding a popup for the second out and striking out the final batter of the game. With the win the junior from Humble, Texas improved to 5-5 on the year.
The Aggies will play No. 12 Georgia in the championship game of the Stanford Classic at noon, on Sunday. Live stats will be available by logging on to AggieAthletics.com.