April 28, 2004
The Texas A&M softball team (31-16, 13-1) made it a memorable night in Aggieland as they run-ruled in-state rival Texas (23-20, 5-10), 11-1, in five innings in front of a record crowd of 1,470 at the Aggie Softball Field extending their winning streak to 11. Junior Jana James provided the final blast of fireworks with a fifth-inning walk-off homer that scored three runs and gave the Aggies the gap they needed to end the game early and put themselves atop the Big 12 standings, half a game ahead of Nebraska.
"I love having her up to the plate," A&M Head Coach Jo Evans stated. "I will tell you one thing. She is great in the clutch, she is great with runners on base and she relishes that situation she was in. I thought it was a great way to end the game."
The ending was as dramatic as the beginning as the Aggies plated three in the first to take an early lead. After singling to lead off the inning, Sharonda McDonald moved to second on an error and then scored when James singled through the left side. Right fielder Rocky Spencer, who walked in the previous at-bat, moved to third on the hit and then scored, along with shortstop Adrian Gregory, on a Kristen Gunter double to left field.
Texas cut the lead to 3-1 in the second on two hits and two Aggie errors but left three on base and did not see home plate the rest of the night as senior Jessica Kapchinski settled in and kept the Longhorn offense at bay.
Kapchinski threw her 14th complete game of the season while allowing one run, unearned, on five hits while striking out one and walking one. Kapchinski improved to 16-5 overall, and 12-1 in conference, including all 11 wins in the current Aggie win streak. She leads the conference with 0.27 ERA in 76.2 innings.
The two-run lead was short lived as second baseman Sherah Atkins singled, advanced to second on McDonald's second single of the night, moved to third on a fielder's choice and then scored on a Longhorn error. With a 4-1 lead, Gregory hit her sixth home run of the season, scoring three runs and pushing the lead to six. James and Spencer scored on the home run.
Pinch runner Lisa Gorzycki scored the Aggies' fifth run on a wild pitch in the third. She was pinch running for catcher Nicole Robinson who reached on a single to left.
After Spencer and Atkins reached on walks in the fifth, James stepped to the plate and took the 3-1 delivery and dropped it over the left field fence for her fourth home run of the season, ending the game.
"I can't ask for anything more from my team than what they are giving," Evans continued. "I don't know that my expectations will ever be more than what happened here tonight and what has been happening the last five or six weeks. It's perfect. I would have loved to have just sat out there and watched the fans and watch my players and take in the amazing energy and excitement and enthusiasm that those 1,470 people brought and our players brought. It is a thrill for me as a coach to coach in a game like that, and to coach a team like this."
Wednesday's game was atypical of the history of the A&M-UT softball series as the Aggies scored eight total runs in the previous seven games against Texas in College Station, but they said goodbye to history on Wednesday with 11 runs on 12 hits.
The record crowd and record score were not the only marks to fall on the night. In the second inning, Spencer stole second and put the 2004 squad in the Aggie record books with 113 stolen bases on the season. The previous record was 112 set by the 1999 team.
The Aggies took sole possession of first place in the Big 12 as they head to Lincoln to take on second-place Nebraska in a two-game set beginning Saturday. First pitch is slated for 5 p.m. with Sunday's finale beginning at noon.
Live audio and stats will be available on AggieAthletics.com.