March 2, 2010
Complete Release in PDF Format 
COLLEGE STATION, Texas - The No. 19 Texas A&M softball team opens a 13-game homestand Wednesday as it hosts Houston at 6:30 p.m. at the Aggie Softball Complex.
A&M (12-3) comes off of a 2-2 weekend at the Cathedral City Classic in which it picked up two hard-fought victories after dropping a pair of games to begin the tournament. The Aggies' final game of the tournament was rained out.
Freshman Rhi Kliesing is hitting .400 and leads A&M in the circle with 57 strikeouts in 42.1 innings pitched.
The Aggies are home for two straight weeks and welcome BYU, Monmouth and Northern Colorado for the Texas A&M Invitational Thursday through Sunday.
TICKETS
Tickets are available for purchase online at tickets.12thmanfoundation.com or by calling 1-888-99-AGGIE.
PARKING
Parking for softball games is free and is available in the Reed Arena parking lots. Exceptions include days when there is conflict with home baseball and/or men's basketball games (Wednesday, Friday and Saturday).
PROMOTIONS
StampFest 2010 begins March 2nd and lasts through Sunday, March 7th! With 13 events these 6 days, you have an opportunity to support your Aggies more than ever! At StampFest 2010, not only can you win prizes by attending events, you can also win a $100 Best Buy gift card for tweeting at the events!
Be sure to use the Twitter hashtag #TAMUStampFest so everyone can track the StampFest tweets and see your updates about the events you're attending! Send in your photos, videos, and updates using the #TAMUStampFest hashtag, and at the end of the weekend, the most creative tweet will receive a $100 gift card to Best Buy!
FOLLOW THE ACTION
Live stats and free live video will be provided for every game this weekend on AggieAthletics.com. In addition, free live audio is available for every Texas A&M game on AggieAthletics.com. Fans can listen to Sports Radio 1150 The Zone for Saturday's 3 p.m. game against Monmouth. All other A&M contests will be broadcast live on KNDE-FM's HD3 channel, Play x REPlay (95.1-3 on the FM dial of an HD Radio), making them available worldwide on any iPhone, iPod Touch, Blackberry or PDA free of charge. Log on to radioaggieland.com for more information.
ON DECK
The Aggies continue their 13-game homestand and welcome Texas A&M Corpus Christi for a doubleheader on Tuesday, March 9, before hosting the Aggie Invitational March 12-14. The next two weeks are the longest homestand the Aggies have all season.
MORROW HITS TO WIN
Senior Macie Morrow delivered a pair of two-out, game-winning hits that helped Texas A&M bounce back with two victories at the Cathedral City Classic. She drove in one run off of an infield single to put the Aggies ahead, 4-3, over UNLV and then came through in the top of the eighth inning against San Diego State with a line-drive single to center that gave the Aggies a 7-6 win. From the lead-off spot, Morrow hit .400 for the weekend with a .438 on base percentage, six hits, a pair of RBIs, two runs, a walk and a stolen base. She was perfect from the field, starting every game at shortstop and recording eight putouts and nine assists. She ended the weekend going 2-for-4 and 3-for-4 in her final two games.
AGGIES IN THE POLLS
Texas A&M is ranked 19th in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Top 25 this week and moved up a spot to No. 23 in the USA Today/NFCA poll. A&M's remaining ranked opponents are No. 3/4 Missouri, No. 8/11 Oklahoma, No. 9/12 Georgia Tech, No. 13/15 Texas, No. 24 Massachusetts, No. 25 Baylor and No. 25 Oklahoma State. In addition, BYU, San Diego State, and Texas A&M Corpus Christi are receiving votes.
MULTIPLE-RUN VICTORIES
The Aggies had a pair of one-run victories at the Cathedral City Classic, but have not had very many close games this season. In fact, only four games, all four of which were wins, have been decided by just one run. In addition, A&M has been winning by an average of five runs in its 12 W's.
SCOUTING HOUSTON
The University of Houston Cougars are 7-8 on the season. Freshman Ashleigh Jones leads the team with a .333 batting average with eight runs on 17 hits. Following her is junior Katy Beth Sherman with a .283 average and seven runs on 13 hits. In the circle, the Cougars are led by freshman Bailey Watts with a 2.66 ERA and a 5-3 record. The team most recently travelled to Baton Rouge, La., for the LSU Tiger Invitational where it went 3-2 on the weekend, including a 5-4 loss in a 10-inning nail biter versus No. 16 LSU to end the tournament. Texas A&M leads the series against Houston 14-3.
SCOUTING BRIGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY
The BYU Cougars are 10-4 in 2010. The team totals a .329 batting average on the season. The sluggers are led by freshman J.C. Clayton, with a .474 average. Following her is senior Angeline Quiocho, who posts a .455 average with 14 runs, 20 hits and seven doubles. Power-hitter, senior Andrea Ramirez, totals five home runs in 14 games. BYU travelled to the Cathedral City Classic in Palm Springs, Calif., last weekend, where they had a 1-3 record after playing No. 1 Washington and No. 2 Arizona. The Aggies are 5-2 against BYU.
SCOUTING NORTHERN COLORADO
The University of Northern Colorado Bears are 3-9 on the season. Sophomore Erin Wilkinson leads the team with a .394 batting average and nine runs and 13 hits. Sophomore Melisa Ryba posts a .390 average and has 16 hits, including two home runs. The team was 1-4 at the UTEP Tournament last weekend in El Paso, Texas. The Bears finished the tournament with a 13-11 win over New Mexico. Northern Colorado posted a season-high 17 hits against the Lobos. Wilkinson had three hits, including a home run in the fifth. Ryba and senior Jessie Schoepflin responded with three hits each in the winning effort. The Aggies lead the series against Northern Colorado 1-0.
SCOUTING MONMOUTH
The Monmouth University Hawks open their 2010 season at the Texas A&M Invitational this weekend. The team was originally scheduled to open the year at the Patriot Classic in Fairfax, Va., but snow caused the tournament to be cancelled. Monmouth finished 2009 with a 26-18-1 record and was led by Emily Delong with a .382 average. She recorded 55 hits, 50 runs, 10 doubles eight triples, 15 home runs, 43 RBIs, a .875 slugging percentage and 19 stolen bases. Melissa Mehrer is the returning ace in the circle. She ended 2009 with a 15-9 record, a 2.51 ERA, and 93 K's in 156.0 innings pitched. Monmouth is under the direction of first-year head coach Louie Berndt with the help of assistant coach and former A&M softball player Jami Lobpries.