Texas A&M
LSU
Aggies Suffer One-Run Loss to No. 21 LSU
Feb 15, 2009 | Softball
Feb. 15, 2009
BATON ROUGE, La. - The fifth-ranked Texas A&M softball team suffered a tough, 4-3 loss to No. 21 LSU in the Aggies' final game of the Easton Tiger Classic on Sunday afternoon.
A&M (5-5) led through five and a half innings until the Tigers (6-3) rallied for three runs in the bottom of the sixth.
"We had the game and we were ready to take it," said head coach Jo Evans. "We just couldn't hang on. They put some hits together and we just have to be a little bit better in knowing how to get outs. With a two-run lead going into the bottom of the sixth, we were feeling good."
In the first inning, sophomore Natalie Villarreal started the Aggies with a single to right center from the lead-off position. Freshman Kelsey Orsak sacrificed Villarreal to second and two LSU errors allowed the Frisco, Texas, native to cross the plate and Orsak to advance to third. Senior Holly Ridley's slow roller to the right side scored Orsak and gave A&M a 2-0 advantage.
Ashley Langoni cut the Aggie lead in half with a solo home run to left center in the bottom of the second.
A&M fought towards a two-out rally in the top of the fourth that started with a single to shallow left center by sophomore Kelsey Spittler. Villarreal followed with a line-drive single to center advancing Spittler all the way to third. Orsak then crushed a deep fly ball to right field, but Rachel Mitchell came up with the third-out catch at the outfield wall.
In the top of the fifth, one-out back-to-back singles by senior Erin Glasco and junior Macie Morrow put runners on first and third. Junior Alex Reynolds then reached base on an error and pinch runner Bailey Schroeder slid into home to put the Aggies back up by two.
LSU loaded the bases with two outs in the sixth and a two-RBI single by Ashley Applegate and an RBI single by Kirsten Shortridge gave LSU its first lead of the game.
The Aggies continued to fight and Morrow led off with a single up the middle in the top of the seventh. From Sugar Land, Texas, Morrow made it all the way to third base after a sacrifice bunt from Reynolds and a deep fly ball to center by freshman Taryn Broussard, but the Tigers held on for the final out to take their second game from the Aggies this weekend.
"I feel better about our fight and I feel better about the way we approached the game," said Evans. "You could see a fire in our belly. We took advantage of some mistakes that LSU made and our aggressive play on the bases really helped us out. I saw some good things out of our team I just don't want them hanging their heads when we leave here. We're going to get better and we're going to win these ball games down the road."
The Aggies continue their 12-game road stretch on Wednesday traveling to San Marcos, Texas, to take on Texas State at 6 p.m.
