April 17, 2005
Texas A&M first baseman Lindsay Park singled in the game-winning RBI in the sixth to lift the No. 5 Texas A&M softball team (39-4, 10-2) over No. 5 Oklahoma (41-8, 9-2), 4-1, at the OU Softball Complex giving the Aggies a ˝-game lead over OU in the Big 12.
The loss was the Sooners first of the year at home and broke a 31-game home win streak dating back to last season.
Jana James (Mesquite, Texas) was named the State Farm Player of the Game with a 2-for-4 two-RBI performance.
"We did a great job learning from yesterday," commented A&M head coach Jo Evans. "Our pitchers had a rough time yesterday and they came in today and made adjustments against a great hitting team keeping us in the ballgame. Our hitters did just what we expect of them as they continued to be aggressive at the plate and put runs across."
Starting pitcher Amanda Scarborough (Magnolia, Texas) improved to 23-1 on the season as she held the best hitting team in the country to one run, unearned, on two hits through six innings of work. Megan Gibson (Spring, Texas) earned her first career save as she retired 3-of-4 batters she faced in the seventh.
After Oklahoma took a 1-0 lead in the second, James brought the Aggies even with a single through the right side scoring Joy Davis (Austin, Texas) from third. The Aggies nearly took a 3-1 lead in the inning but a diving catch on the right field line by OU outfielder Jamie Fox ended the inning.
Park's (Arcadia, Calif.) single past the shortstop in the sixth gave A&M a 2-1 advantage heading into the final frame where the Aggies added two insurance runs with the top of the OU lineup coming up.
In the seventh, James' single up the middle scored Sharonda McDonald (Houston, Texas) from second and moved Jamie Hinshaw (Missouri City, Texas) over to second where she would eventually score while the OU defense had James in a rundown on a snap throw to first.
With the win, Texas A&M improved to 14-29 all time against Oklahoma.
The Aggies return to action next Saturday at the Aggie Softball Complex against Texas Tech. The Aggies and Red Raiders will play at 2 p.m. on Saturday before closing out the series on Sunday at noon.
Live stats and audio of next weekend's games will be available, free of charge, on AggieAthletics.com. Fans attending the game can listen live by tuning into 89.9 FM.