March 29, 2003
The No. 20 Texas A&M softball team (26-11, 4-1) secured their fourth conference win Saturday as they defeated Missouri 4-2 at University Field in Columbia, Missouri. The Aggies jumped on top of the Tigers early but had to hold on late as Missouri made a seventh inning surge scoring two runs with no outs.
Fresh off of pitching her first perfect game on Wednesday, junior hurler Jessica Slataper earned the win and Lindsay Wilhelmson earned her first save of the year. With the victory Slataper, a right-hander from Humble improved to 8-7 overall and 2-0 in conference play as she threw 6 strikeouts en route to her 14th complete game of the season.
The Aggies scored the first runs in the game as Wilhelmson hit a two run shot over the left field fence giving the Aggies a 2-0 lead. Freshman Kristin Gunter scored on the dinger after reaching base on a single that went through the left side of the infield.
A&M added two more runs in the top of the seventh when Cheryl Fowler was hit by a pitch, stole second and then scored when senior Selena Collins hit a single to the left field gap. Collins advanced to second on the throw home and later advanced to third on a wild pitch. She then scored when sophomore Adrian Gregory hit a line drive to left field that was misplayed giving the Aggies a 4-0 lead.
After being held at bay the entire game the Missouri offense woke up in the bottom of the seventh as Heather Kunkel led off with a double and then Rachael McGinnis hit a towering shot over the score board in left field bringing the Tigers within two runs. After the home run Wilhelmson came in in relief of Slataper and earned the save as she allowed one hit before giving up a ground ball out and striking out the last Tiger batter of the game.
The Aggies and Tigers play again tomorrow in Columbia at noon. Live stats will be available on AggieAthletics.com.