Texas A&M
Southeastern Louisiana
Texas A&M 9, Southeastern Louisiana 1
Feb 17, 2006 | Softball
February 17, 2006
The 9th-ranked Texas A&M softball team opened the St. Joseph Aggie Classic Friday with a 9-1 win over Southeastern Louisiana in front of 917 fans on a chilly night at the Aggie Softball Complex.
With the win the Aggies improve to 6-2 on the season, while the Lions drop to 3-3.
?It was nice to come out in the first inning and score a run,? commented A&M head coach Jo Evans. ?I thought our hitters did a nice job of hitting behind our runners (to the right-side) we were able to score some runs- they did make some errors and we were able to take advantage of that. If a team is going to make errors, then we have to make them pay for it and that?™s what our team did tonight. I like the way we came out and kept swinging the bats and got better and better at bats as the game went on.?
A&M posted the first run of the game in the bottom of the first when Sharonda McDonald reached first on an infield hit and advanced to third on a throwing error by Southeastern La., third baseman, Heather Sherrill. The next batter, Jamie Hinshaw, brought McDonald in on a sac-fly to rightfield.
Ronda Smith sent a two-run shot deep over the centerfield fence in the bottom of the second. Scoring on the homerun was Holly Ridley who walked three batters earlier.
With bases loaded and one out, Amy Ford lined a shot into leftfield bringing the Lions within two runs. However Carolann Wenisch hit a grounder to Ridley who immediately threw home for out No. 2 and the next batter, Sherrill lined a foul shot that was snagged by a diving Hinshaw for the final out of the top of the third inning.
In a wild bottom of the fifth, the Lion defense committed three errors allowing five runs to cross home and extend the Aggie lead 8-1. Ronda Smith was hit by a pitch to reach first, where she was replaced by pinch-runner Kristine Test. Rocky Spencer fouled back a pitch that was dropped by the Southeastern La. catcher and was then walked to advance Test to second. Spencer and Test then moved-up to second and third on a wild pitch. A fielding error by second baseman Jenaye Zeringue allowed Test to score. Zeringue then had her second error of the game as she booted a shot by Amanda Scarborough. Starting pitcher Megan Gibson then drove a shot deep over the centerfield fence for the final two runs of the inning.
The game ended in the bottom of the sixth when Aggie catcher Beverly Rowan and Smith reached on back-to-back Lion fielding errors. McDonald slapped a shot back up the middle to score Rowan to put the 9-1 run-rule into affect.
Gibson was credited with her fourth win of the season and named State Farm Player of the Game going 1 for 3 with a home run while pitching five complete innings giving up one run and striking out four.
The Aggies will face the Fordham Rams at 12:15 p.m. on Saturday for day two of the St. Joseph Aggie Classic.
You can access live audio and stats for this weekend?™s games by logging on to AggieAthletics.com. Fans attending any home game this season can listen to AggieAthletics.com?™s broadcast inside the stadium on 89.9 FM.
To purchase tickets for Aggie home games, contact the Texas A&M Athletic Ticket Office at (979) 845-2311 or (888) 99-Aggie.
Tournament Schedule
Sat. Feb. 18
12:15 p.m. A&M vs. Fordham
2:30 p.m. Southeastern Louisiana vs. Fordham
4:45 p.m. A&M vs. Southeastern Louisiana
Sun. Feb. 19 10:00 a.m. Southeastern Louisiana vs. Fordham
12:15 p.m. A&M vs. Fordham
