February 26, 2005
Texas A&M head coach Jo Evans earned her 300th win at A&M as the No. 16 Aggies (15-1) knocked off No. 1 Cal, 5-2, on the strength of Megan Gibson's arm and bat at the Palm Springs Classic on Saturday.
Gibson was named the State Farm Player of the Game after improving to 4-1 in the circle and recording four RBI in a 2-for-3 performance at the plate.
"This is a really great win for our team and our program," Evans stated. "Our players know that if they take the field with the confidence to win then they can beat any team in the country, and that is what they did tonight. We continued to be aggressive at the plate and Megan (Gibson) was great in the circle."
Evans, who recorded her 600th career win earlier in the season, improved to 300-181-2 in her ninth season in Aggieland.
"I truly had no idea going into the game that this could be my 300th win at A&M," commented Evans. "This will be a memorable win for me because of the way I feel about this team. I think there are going to be a lot of memorable wins for this team throughout our time at A&M."
In the first inning, Gibson put the Aggies up 2-0 with her second home run of the tournament when she took the two-out 2-and-2 count and knocked it over the left center fence scoring Jana James (Mesquite, Texas) from second. James reached on a two-out walk before stealing second.
After Cal put one run across in the fifth, Gibson answered with a two-out two-RBI single up the middle that scored Sharonda McDonald (Houston, Texas) and Jamie Hinshaw (Missouri City, Texas) after they reached on back-to-back singles.
Cal cut back into the lead with one run in the sixth but the Aggies answered again with a seventh-inning double by designated player Lindsay Park (Arcadia, Texas) that plated Rocky Spencer (Katy, Texas) from first after she singled to left.
A&M's start ties the schools best since 1991 when the team also began the season 15-1.
The Aggies improved to 3-0 in the Palm Springs with wins over Loyola Marymount (8-0, five innings, No. 12 Washington (10-0, five innings) and No. 1 Cal.
The Aggies continue play in the Palm Springs Classic when they take on UNLV at 10:30 (CDT) Saturday. Log on to AggieAthletics.com for tournament information and game updates.