February 18, 2007
Back-to-back home runs by Jami Lobpries and Ronda Smith sealed the 7-1 victory for the No. 3 Texas A&M softball team over the Texas-San Antonio Roadrunners in the final game of the 2007 Aggie Classic.
With the win, the Aggies won the tournament championship and improved to 10-0 on the season, while UTSA fell to 3-7.
?I?â„¢m excited about the way we played this weekend,? commented A&M head coach Jo Evans. ?This was a great tournament for us, especially since we got great production throughout the lineup. We really had a lot of people swinging the bat well. I thought our pitching was really good; we went out and took care of business. Defensively, I was really pleased to see us errorless in the game today. That?â„¢s really our goal, to play every game without errors.?
Gibson started the sixth inning off with a walk and scored when Lobpries launched a deep shot over the left field wall. One batter later, Smith took a solo shot opposite field for her second home run of the season, giving the Aggies all the run support they would need for the win.
?It was so nice to see us get some home runs, some power production,? Evans said. ?We?â„¢ve got great speed that we use well, we?â„¢ve got kids out there stealing bases and then we?â„¢ve got those power hitters that can step up and get those RBI.?
Following suit from the previous four games in the Aggie Classic, A&M managed to score runs in its first inning at the plate. Sharonda McDonald drew a walk to lead off the inning and quickly stole second, her seventh straight game with a steal. Jamie Hinshaw reached on a dropped ball by UTSA center fielder Rudi Cantu. Amanda Scarborough drove in McDonald and Hinshaw on a one-out single to left field.
The Aggies increased their lead 4-0, with two more runs in the second inning. Joy Davis reached on a single, stole second and advanced to third on a single to center by McDonald. Macie Morrow recorded two RBI on a single of her own up the middle.
UTSA?â„¢s only run of the game came in the sixth when Cantu reached on a single back to the mound and moved all the way to third on a passed ball and wild pitch. Leanne Risberg put a sharply hit ball into play to score Cantu from third.
Scarborough went the distance to pick up her fifth win of the season. She allowed just one unearned run on two hits, a walk and struck out seven Roadrunner batters.
The A&M softball team returns to action on Wednesday when it faces Stephen F. Austin in a doubleheader. First pitch is schedule for 2 p.m. at the Aggie Softball Complex.
Fans wanting to purchase season and individual game tickets can do so by calling 1-888-99-AGGIE or logging on to www.AggieAthletics.com.