February 27, 2005
No. 23 Long Beach defeated No. 16 Texas A&M, 9-1, in five innings on the final day of the Palm Springs Classic. The Aggies finish the tournament with a 4-1 record after earning wins over Loyola Marymount (8-0, five innings), No. 12 Washington (10-0, five innings), No. 1 California (5-2) and UNLV (4-0).
Sharonda McDonald was named the State Farm Player of the Game after going 1-for-2 and scoring the Aggies run in the first inning.
"That is a disappointing way to end a great weekend," stated A&M head coach Jo Evans. "We came out this weekend and put together four great games against really good competition. Overall this was a successful weekend that we can build on as the season progresses."
After Long Beach put one across in the top of the first, A&M answered with a run of their own thanks to the speed of McDonald (Houston, Texas). She slapped a single to first, stole second and moved to third on a wild pitch before scoring on a passed ball.
Long Beach added a run in the third and two in the fourth followed by five in the fifth handing A&M only its second loss of the season.
Sophomore Jill Weynand (Frisco, Texas) fell to 4-1 on the season after throwing four innings and allowing four runs, three earned, on six hits while striking out six batters.
The Aggies take the field again on Wednesday at 4 p.m. when they travel to Huntsville to take on Sam Houston State.