April 07, 2004
The Texas A&M softball team pushed four runs across in the fifth and added two in the seventh as they shutout the Longhorns, 6-0, on the strength of 10 hits and the dominant pitching of senior Jessica Kapchinski.
A&M knocked off the Longhorns (18-15, 0-5) in Austin for the first time since April 4, 2001. With the win the Aggies improved to 23-16 overall and 5-1 in conference.
"It feels great to win in Austin," A&M head coach Jo Evans said. "We have had our challenges here in the past. I thought that our kids approached the game really well. They took care of business, they didn't get too hyped about the rivalry and they just looked at it as another win for us in conference play. I like our focus now. I think that we are a team on a mission and we've got our heads straight. I am excited that our approach is what it should have been. I thought our kids really had the upper hand in the way that we played the game."
The Aggies' got their first run when Longhorn pitcher Amy Bradford fielded a Sherah Atkins ground ball and made an errant throw to first ,allowing freshman Laura Durham to score from third. Durham reached on a single, moved to second on a Lindsay Wilhelmson single and then scored on the error.
Wilhelmson moved to third on the error and scored A&M's second run when left fielder Jana James hit a line drive single off the second baseman's glove, moving Sharonda McDonald, who hit an infield single, to second and Atkins to third. Shortstop Adrian Gregory drove in the third run on a sac hit to right field, plating Atkins. McDonald moved to third on the throw and then became the fourth run when she stole home on a double steal with Jana James.
A&M added two more runs in the seventh when sophomore Lindsay Park took relief pitcher Lizi Sowers delivery and poked it past a diving Amber Hall at short to score James and Gregory from second and third. James reached on a walk and moved to third when Gregory doubled off the center field wall.
The Aggies recorded 10 hits in the game and made the most of Bradford's miscue as they pushed the Longhorn defense to the limit.
"We really felt like it was key for us to come and drive the ball and not get too caught up in trying to hit home runs," Evans continued. "We felt like we could put pressure on their defense with our speed and we did that. They made a couple of mistakes and we took advantage of their mistakes."
Six runs was more than enough for Kapchinski as she moved to 8-5, with four wins in conference, after going the distance for the eighth time this season. Kapchinski struck out three, walked one and allowed only two hits in the game. At 4-1 in conference, Kapchinski has not allowed an earned run in 31 innings including all of conference play.
Evans continued to rave about the play of her senior pitcher.
"She pitched great. She is hitting her spots and mixing up her pitches. She and Nicole Robinson are working great together. They are a very good tandem. Jess has really been calm on the mound and you can see that. She has a nice presence on the mound right now."
A&M returns home to take on Kansas in a doubleheader on Saturday beginning at 11:30 a.m. at the Aggie Softball Field.
Live audio and stats will be available right here on AggieAthletics.com.