April 27, 2005
Texas A&M pinch hitter Laura Durham hit a two-run triple in the fifth to lift the No. 4 Texas A&M softball team (42-4, 13-2) over No. 6 Texas (35-11, 9-6), 5-3, and clinch at least a share of the Big 12 Regular Season Championship as part of the State Farm Lone Star Showdown in front of a Big 12 regular season record crowd 2,341 fans and a national television audience as the game was broadcast live at the Aggie Softball Complex on ESPN2.
Durham (Pearland, Texas) was named the State Farm Player of the Game for her fifth-inning heroics that broke a 3-3 tie.
"We built our confidence up by hitting her (Cat Osterman) mistakes in the first inning and it was that confidence that carried us to the win," commented A&M head coach Jo Evans. "It was time for us to make a statement and show that we can beat a great pitcher and our approach and attitude tonight allowed us to do that."
The Aggies, the best hitting team in the nation with a .343 average, faced off against Texas and the nations top pitching staff, a combined 0.62 ERA, and came out on top as they racked up five runs on seven hits with four going for extra bases.
A&M answered the call of the crowd as they set the Big 12 regular season attendance record for the second time this season. Texas A&M set the previous conference mark of 1,855 on April 4 against Iowa State.
"I have been around softball for a long time and I can safely say there has never been an atmosphere like this anywhere at any time," Evans continued. "Our fans have been great all season and they deserved to come out and watch us get a big win."
The clinch of the co-championship is the first-ever softball conference championship for an A&M program that has three national championships (1982, '83 & '87) under its belt. The Aggies first conference affiliation for softball began when they joined the Big 12 Conference in 1996.
The Aggies' 13-2 conference mark ties the school record for league wins that was set last season by the 13-3 squad that finished ˝-game back of the conference crown. Texas A&M can break that mark as they still have three conference games to go.
After Texas ended the Aggies' 18-game win streak in Austin on April sixth, A&M exacted its revenge by extending its home win streak to 17 games on Wednesday.
In the circle, Amanda Scarborough (Magnolia, Texas) went head-to-head with Olympic gold medal winner, and out-pitched her, throwing a complete-game six-hitter matched against Osterman's five-run seven-hitter. All eight runs were scored marking the most earned runs given up by each pitcher - three for Scarborough and five for Osterman - this season.
A&M got on the board early and had to fight back to secure the victory. After Jamie Hinshaw (Missouri City, Texas) and Jana James (Mesquite, Texas) reached on a single and a double in the first, the Big 12's leading home run hitter, Megan Gibson (Spring, Texas) gave the Aggies an early lead with her 16th round-tripper of the season with a shot over the left field fence.
Texas threatened to answer in the second but a diving catch and throw to first by shortstop Adrian Gregory (Livingston, Texas), who had a game-high five assist on stellar defense, ended the inning keeping the Longhorns off the board.
Texas tied the game at three with a three-run homer by Desiree Williams in the third but Durham gave the Aggies back the lead with her triple up the middle scoring pinch runner Lisa Gorzycki (Bryan, Texas) and Rocky Spencer (Katy, Texas).
With the win, Texas A&M improved to 10-12 all time against Texas.
Texas A&M looks to take sole possession of the Big 12 title this weekend when the take on No. 20 Missouri in a two-game series at University Field on the Missouri campus.
Live stats and audio of this weekend's games will be available, free of charge, on AggieAthletics.com. Fans attending the games can listen live by tuning into the low end of the FM dial.