March 22, 2006
Rocky Spencer hit her second homerun of the season in the top of the eighth to lead the No. 15 Texas A&M softball team (21-9, 1-0) to its first Big 12 win of the season, 4-3, over No. 19 Baylor (18-13, 0-1) Wednesday in front of 641 fans at Getterman Stadium.
?I?â„¢m really proud of our kids. I thought we came in here and played really hard,? commented A&M head coach Jo Evans. ?We got down a run, but we didn?â„¢t let down and we just chipped away. We kept finding a way to get a run across.?
The Lady Bears put the first run of the game up in the bottom of the second on two doubles by Ashley Monceaux and Miriam Romero.
A&M countered with a run of its own in the top of the third. Patti Wunderlich walked to lead-off the inning. Holly Ridley received a fielder?â„¢s choice when she bunted to move pinch-runner Kristine Test to second, but Baylor third baseman, Brette Reagan overthrew second. Sharonda McDonald then sacrificed Test and Ridley to third and second. Jamie Hinshaw hit a sac fly to left before Gibson hit a soft liner to shortstop to end the inning.
The Aggies took a 2-1 lead in the top of the fifth on a double to left-center field by Hinshaw that scored Wunderlich who reached base on a bunt to third.
Kelly Osburn started the bottom of the seventh with her fifth homerun of the season, a solo blast just to the right of the scoreboard, tying the game at two.
With two outs in the top of the eighth, Spencer hit a two-run blast over the left field wall to put the Aggies back on top 4-2. Scarborough reached on a single up the middle. Joy Davis, in to pinch-run for Scarborough, stole her 36th consecutive base, before scoring on the homerun.
?Rocky Spencer getting up there and hitting a huge homerun, what a great job by her to be down in the count and still be able to get the job done,? Evans said. ?It?â„¢s a tough situation to be in, but we always say what a clutch hitter Rocky is.?
Tessa Lynam brought the Lady Bears back within one with a lead-off homerun of her own in the bottom of the eighth. The homerun was her fifth of the season. However it was not enough as Scarborough coaxed a groundball, a strikeout and a liner to first to end the game.
With the win Scarborough improved to 9-4. She allowed three runs on nine hits and struckout eight of the Baylor batters.
Lisa Ferguson (9-7) recorded the loss. She gave up four runs on seven hits and striking out five.
Spencer was named State Farm Player of the Day with the game-winning blast in the eighth.
The Aggies return to action on Saturday at the Aggie Softball Complex against Kansas at 2:00 p.m. The game will be televised by Cox Sports Television.