Softball Advances to NCAA Super Regionals
May 20, 2007 | Softball
May 20, 2007
Sharonda McDonald was 4-for-6 on the day with five runs scored, two RBIs and three stolen bases and Alex Reynolds hit a grand slam to lead the 7th-ranked Texas A&M softball team to two wins (13-2, 5-0) over the University of Houston, to advance to the NCAA Super Regionals next weekend.
?I couldn?™t be more proud of our ball club. I thought we were absolutely terrific in the last three games,? A&M head coach Jo Evans said. ?I think Houston woke a sleeping giant the other day when they beat us. I love the way our kids came back and had complete confidence and really dominated the three games we played after the loss. It was total team effort. It was great to see to (Megan) Gibson and (Amanda) Scarborough step up in these last three games and give us great outings and give us a chance to win.?
After Saturday?™s loss to the Cougars (44-18), the Aggies came out as the visitors in game one, pounding out 13 runs on 11 hits to run-rule Houston in five innings.
?We played that way at the beginning of the season,? Scarborough noted. ?It?™s so hard to play 55 games with such intensity. It?™s hard on you mentally and physically. We showed exactly how we played in February with that emotion and that is exactly how we played today in those games.?
A&M posted runs in all five frames including a five-run first and a four-run third. McDonald started the game by drawing a walk, quickly stole second and scored on a Jamie Hinshaw double down the leftfield line. Gibson drew a full-count walk and Scarborough singled up the middle to load the bases for Reynolds?™ fifth bomb of the season; a towering shot that cleared the wall in left.
The Cougars never quite recovered failing to bring anyone home in Scarborough?™s four innings of work. It wasn?™t until the fifth when freshman lefty, Emily Shadow entered in relief that Houston pushed two runs across. With two outs, Christa Raley started a four single rally. Shadow coaxed Houston pitcher, Angel Shamblin to pop-out to Macie Morrow at shortstop.
Scarborough allowed five hits, walked two and struck out four en route to her 24th victory of the season.
In the second game of the afternoon, the Aggies switched to the third base dugout and became the home team but never lost a step as they plated two runs in the bottom of the first inning. McDonald slapped a single to start the game and once again stole second, her second of the day and came home in the same fashion as the first game, a hit by Hinshaw. Hinshaw, the Aggies?™ third baseman, stole second and advanced to third after tagging on a Gibson fly ball into center. Houston leftfielder Laura Durham caught a ball in foul territory allowing Hinshaw to tag and take home.
A&M tacked-on three insurance runs in the third inning with McDonald leading off with a single into right-centerfield. The senior swiped her third bag of the day and scored on a Gibson single down the rightfield line. In the first pitch of her at bat, Scarborough muscled a two-run homer, her seventh of the season, extending A&M?™s lead 5-0. The RBIs moved Scarborough to a team-leading 46 on the season.
Gibson (17-4) was lights-out in the circle giving up just five hits, walking one and striking out six in seven complete. It was Gibson?™s eighth shutout of the season. The junior allowed just three Cougar batters to reach scoring position.
The Aggies turned a 1-6-3 double play to end the game and advance to the Super Regional against the Florida Gators.
Shamblin (31-9) recorded both losses for Houston this afternoon. In the first game Shamblin allowed seven runs in two innings. She gave up six hits and two walks. In the second game she worked all six innings giving up the five runs off eight hits.
?I think Angel Shamblin is really very good,? Evans said. ?She had a great year and she had a lot on her shoulders, our kids were pretty fired up to play the game. I think she?™s got a good shot at making one of the All-American teams. I?™m on that committee so I?™ll certainly speak on her behalf because I think she?™s had tremendous season.?
Hinshaw finished the day going 4-for-7 with three runs scored and four RBIs.
?I think that Jamie Hinshaw has made a big difference,? Evans ended. ?Over the last couple weeks, we?™ve put her in the two-hole and that?™s made a huge difference. That got Macie Morrow out of the two and got her down in the lineup where she could start relaxing. I have told our team the teams that win championships, that go down the stretch are the ones where somebody gets hot that wasn?™t hot.?
Ticket and game information about the College Station Super Regional will be posted on AggieAthletics.com.
Texas A&M Post Game Quotes:
Texas A&M Head Coach Jo Evans
Opening Statement
?I couldn?™t be more proud of our ball club. I thought we were absolutely terrific in the last three games. I think Houston woke a sleeping giant the other day when they beat us. I love the way our kids came back and had complete confidence and really dominated the three games we played after the loss. It was total team effort. It was great to see to Gibson and Scarborough step up in these last three games and give us great outings and give us a chance to win.?
On the pitching?...
?I thought they were both great. Amanda did a really nice job keeping the ball down, throwing her drop ball, throwing her change-up well, and being able to throw it for a strike. We really needed those two. After we lost to Houston and we had been struggling a little bit I said we need Gibson and Scarborough to really step up. Those are the kids that you count on day in and day out. Today we could really count on them. I thought Gibson was so sharp. She was her best today. Both those kids make us go. You have to have a chance in the circle to make it happen. They really stepped up big for us.?
On dominating the last three games?...
?I think that Jamie Hinshaw has made a big difference. Over the last couple weeks, we?™ve put her in the two-hole and that?™s made a huge difference. That got Macie Morrow out of the two and got her down in the lineup where she could start relaxing. You see Macie is doing a good job at the plate now. I think that made a big difference and Sharonda certainly getting hot. Then Gibson and Scarborough just continuing to do what they?™ve done all year long. I have told our team the teams that win championships, that go down the stretch and the ones where somebody gets hot that wasn?™t hot. Gibson, Scarborough, we?™re counting on them but we needed somebody else to get hot. That?™s what Jamie Hinshaw?™s done and that?™s what Macie?™s done to help us as well. Joy Davis, she?™s not going to hit .400 but she?™s going to get her hits and drive in some runs. Those are the people we really count on to be successful down the stretch.?
On being visitors the first game?...
?Our kids were looking forward to it. They said the day before we were glad we were visitors. We wanted to go out and hit. I think it also kind of settled Scarborough down. I think she?™s more calm when she?™s able to get an at-bat and kind of get in the flow of the game. I thought that helped us especially since we were attacking the ball last night and taking that again to the plate.?
On Houston?™s pitching and defense?...
?I think Angel Shamblin is really very good. She had a great year and she had a lot on her shoulders with our kids that were pretty fired up to play the game. I think she?™s got a good shot at making one of the All-American teams. I?™m on that committee so I?™ll certainly speak on her behalf because I think she?™s had tremendous season. I think that we also had great discipline at the plate. I think that our players deserve a lot of credit for having discipline and hitting pitches that they could drive. Defensively, I thought we did a good job of moving our runners in scoring position in terms of stealing bases. Because we saw something in there defense we took advantage of that. We came in with that plan. I said I see something that we can steal some bases which is great because now we don?™t have to give up an out on a bunt. I don?™t think we did that all day. We pretty much just took a base. I thought that made a huge difference because then you?™ve got that one more at-bat to get a timely hit. They had opportunities. The difference in the second game was we got timely hits and they didn?™t. I think it helped us that we were able to steal so many bases and move ourselves into scoring position. Houston?™s had a great year and I know they leave here feeling very disappointed but I hope they can take a step back later on and look and be very proud of what they had done.?
PRE-GAME INSPIRATION:
Amanda Scarborough: We were all just extremely motivated. I live with four other girls on the team (Sharonda McDonald, Jami Lopries, Jamie Hinshaw, and Liza Gorizki). We all woke up early and dreamed about today and what we were going to do. We knew that yesterday when we lost to Houston that that is not the team that we are. We know that we were going to come out here today and just dominate two games. We were all just extremely motivated. We stayed loose and played our absolute best today and I am so proud of our team.
Megan Gibson: I talked to a lot of the girls on the team before we even got into the locker-room to get dressed. I told them ?I woke up at 3 o?™clock last night ready to go play? and they were like ?so did I.? That pretty much sums it up. We were just determined and ready to play today.
Alex Reynolds: I also live with Macie (Morrow) and Bailey (Schroeder). You get so mand and your adrenaline starts running and you wake up in the morning and you just want to go kill somebody. I was ready to go fight somebody this morning. I sent the team a text message ?Winning is a state of mind. Lets go kill somebody today Ags.? We went in there and that is exactly what we did.
ON THE INTENSITY TO WIN:
Amanda Scarborough: We played that way at the beginning of the season. Its so hard to play 55 games with such intensity. It?™s hard on you mentally and physically. We showed exactly how we played in February with that emotion and that is exactly how we played today in those games.
ON LOOKING FOR PARTILCULAR PITCHES:
Alex Reynolds: At that point I was just looking for a strike. She (Angel Shamblin) had fooled me even in this last game. She fools me with her change up. She has a really nice change up on the outside corner. That time she happened to go inside and it was right there and I was ready to blast something out of there. I got lucky on that one.
ON BIG 12 SCHEDULE PREPARING FOR POST-SEASON PLAY:
Alex Reynolds: We played Houston earlier. Houston has a very good team, very good players. The last game we beat them with a walk-off homerun so we knew that Houston was going to be the team to beat. The confidence we have comes from practice.
Amanda Scarborough: Every game in the Big 12 you have to show up to play. There is not going to be one team where just show up and say ?Oh we won.? No, you have to go out there and you have to play your best to beat every single team in the Big 12. In regional and post season you have to show up to beat these teams. There is not one team who isn?™t supposed to be here.
DIFFERENCE IN PITCHING AGAINST SAM HOUSTON AND TODAY:
Megan Gibson: Determination. I was just ready to beat somebody. I did struggle against Sam Houston. I left the ball up a lot. I was really just working on every single pitch I had today. Throwing it in there and trying to keep the hitters off balance. My change up was working really well for me today. I capitalized on that and used that to my advantage.
ON TEAMMATE SHAROND MCDONALD:
Megan Gibson: I just think it goes back to that confidence we have in our teammates and in ourselves.
Amanda Scarborough: If Sharonda gets on, we are going to score.
Alex Reynolds: It gives you confidence as a hitter, too. She gets on second, all you have to do is pop it up and there she goes. You don?™t have to have a good at bat.
ON STEALING BASES:
Megan Gibson: We were just aggressive. We have a lot of speed on our team and we used that to our advantage day in and day out. There are five or six people in our line-up that can easily steal a base.
