February 23, 2006
The No. 8 Texas A&M softball team heads to Cathedral City, Calif. this weekend to participate in the Palm Springs Classic.
| TOURNEY INFO |
| (#8) A&M vs (#22) Oregon Friday, Feb. 24, 3 p.m. (CST) (#8) A&M vs (#1) Arizona Friday, Feb. 24, 10:30 p.m. (CST) (#8) A&M vs UNLV Saturday, Feb. 25, 5 p.m. (CST) (#8) A&M vs (#3) UCLA Saturday, Feb. 25, 10 p.m. (CST) (#8) A&M vs Cal State Fullerton Sunday, Feb. 26, 1 p.m. (CST) Big League Dreams Sports Park, Cathedral City, Calif. Palm Springs Classic Website: |
| RECORDS (entering weekend) |
| Texas A&M: 9-2 Oregon: 6-4 Arizona: 11-0 UNLV: 6-5 UCLA: 8-1 Cal State Fullerton: 5-5 |
| RANKINGS |
| A&M is ranked 8th in both the ESPN.com/USA Softball poll and the USA Today/NFCA poll. Oregon (No. 22 NFCA), Arizona (No. 1 both polls) and UCLA (No. 3 both polls) appear in the rankings. Cal State Fullerton is receiving votes. |
| RADIO |
| (Arizona, UNLV, and UCLA games; broadcasts of all 5 games also available on aggieathletics.com) Matt Simon, play-by-play Stephen Grove, commentary |
| INTERNET |
| Live Stats (ORE): (aggieathletics.com) Live Stats (ARIZ): (aggieathletics.com) Live Stats (UNLV): (aggieathletics.com) Live Stats (UCLA): (aggieathletics.com) Live Stats (CSF): (aggieathletics.com) Live Audio (all games): (aggieathletics.com-subscription service) |
| SERIES |
| A&M leads Oregon, 4-1 Last Meeting: (2/28/04) Arizona leads A&M, 20-4 Last Meeting: (2/10/06) A&M leads UNLV, 6-2 Last Meeting: (2/26/05) UCLA leads A&M, 7-5 Last Meeting: (2/8/02) Fullerton leads A&M, 17-15 Last Meeting: (2/7/03) |
| UP NEXT |
| A&M at Sam Houston State Wednesday, March 1, 5 p.m. (CST) Bearkat Softball Complex, Huntsville, Texas |
"I'm very excited to be heading to California this weekend," commented A&M head coach Jo Evans. "Our girls are continuing to improve and they are becoming more and more comfortable and confident at the plate and in the field with each game we play. We will be facing some of the top teams in the nation in this tournament and I'm anxious to see how well our team responds."
The Aggies (9-2) will kick-off the first day of play on Friday against No.22 Oregon (6-4) at 3:00 p.m. and then later in the evening will take on the No 1 team in the nation, Arizona (11-0), with first pitch set for 10:30 p.m.
A&M holds the all-time series against Oregon 4-1 while Arizona has a 20-4 advantage over the Aggies.
On Saturday, A&M will face UNLV (6-5) at 5:00 p.m. and then No. 3 UCLA (7-1) at 8:00 p.m.
The Rebels have lost six of the eight games against the Aggies. The Bruins has beaten A&M seven of the 12 times the two teams have faced-off.
The Aggies will wrap-up tournament play on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. against Cal State Fullerton (5-5), who is 17-15 all-time against A&M.
Six of the eight teams to have won the NCAA National Championship are participating in the 23-team tournament field. The field includes 18 2005 NFCA All-Americans, 15 NCAA Regional Tournament squads, three College World Series teams, and 11 teams ranked in the 2005 final Top 25 poll.
The Aggies are coming off a two-game set against Houston, in which they snapped the Cougars 10-game winning streak by handing them a 7-2 loss in game one and a 4-1 loss in game two.
Sophomore third baseman, Jamie Hinshaw is the Aggies' leading hitter. Hinshaw has ripped 12 hits, three doubles a homerun and driven in 10 RBI. She's currently on a seven game hitting streak. Freshman Ronda Smith is tied with Hinshaw for the team lead in RBI and has two homeruns.
Megan Gibson is A&M's ace in the circle thus far, toting a 5-0 record and a 1.75 ERA. In 32 innings of work, Gibson has given up 10 runs, eight earned, while striking out 28 and holding opposing batters to a .182 batting average.
You can access live audio and stats for this weekend's games by logging on to AggieAthletics.com.