February 25, 2007
Freshman shortstop Macie Morrow was 3-for-4 at the plate and Megan Gibson added her fourth home run of the season for the No. Texas A&M softball team, however it wasn?â„¢t enough as the fourth-ranked Arizona Wildcats held on for the 6-2 victory in front of 1,271 Sunday afternoon at Hillenbrand Stadium.
The Aggies fell to 13-2 with the loss while Arizona improved to 11-3.
?It was a good trip for us in terms of learning a lot about our team, in terms of competing against one of the premier teams in the country,? commented A&M head coach Jo Evans. ?We walk away from here certainly not happy about going one and two. But, knowing that this helps us build towards what we want to do. We?â„¢ll go home, work hard and get back at it.?
In the top of the seventh, Sharonda McDonald reached on a bunt single, stole second and came home on a double to wall the by Morrow, her third hit of the day to bring A&M within four runs. Hinshaw then reached on an infield single however Taryne Mowatt was brought in for relief with no outs and retired Amanda Scarborough, Gibson and Jami Lobpries all on strike outs to earn her second save of the season.
?I?â„¢m a little disappointed in our overall performance. I expected our team to compete better today,? said Evans. ?I didn?â„¢t think we did a very good job when we were behind in the count. We need to work on our two-strike hitting. In the last inning we gave ourselves a chance, we had the hitters up that we wanted and I just wanted to see us compete a little better than that.?
Gibson led off the sixth inning with a solo shot deep over the left field wall. However one run was all A&M could push across that inning, as Sarah Akamine coaxed a strikeout, a fly out and a ground out to end any further scoring threats from the Aggies.
K?â„¢Lee Arredondo hit a two-out double in the second inning and stole third before scoring the Wildcats?â„¢ first run of the game off a fielding error by Morrow. In the third inning, Arizona plated another run with two outs, a home run by catcher Callista Balko.
Balko brought out the big stick again, hitting her second home run of the game, in a three-run Arizona fifth. Senior shortstop Kristie Fox brought the score to 6-1 in the Wildcats?â„¢ favor as she hit a solo shot to right center, her fifth home run of the season in the sixth off reliever Emily Shadow.
Scarborough fell to 6-2 on the season as she allowed five runs on 10 hits. She walked one and struck out four in five innings of work. Shadow finished the game in the circle for A&M giving up a home run.
Akamine earned the win, her fifth of the season. She worked six complete giving up two runs on nine hits. She allowed two free passes as she struck out two.
The Aggies return to action on Wednesday as they head to Huntsville to face the Sam Houston State Bearkats. First pitch is slated for 5 p.m. at the Bearkat Softball Complex.