April 27, 2010
COLLEGE STATION, Texas -
The No. 20 Texas A&M softball team wraps up the home portion of the regular season on Wednesday, hosting Baylor at 6:30 p.m. at the Aggie Softball Complex.
Texas A&M (36-13, 7-6 Big 12) sits in fourth place in the Big 12 and last split a tough series at home against No. 11 Missouri.
Baylor (26-19, 6-8 Big 12) took two from Iowa State last weekend for its first conference sweep of the year and is tied for seventh place in the league. The Lady Bears trail the Aggies by a game-and-a-half.
The last time the two teams met, on March 31 in Waco, Texas, the Aggies dropped a 3-2 heartbreaker to the Lady Bears as they scored the winning run on a wild pitch in the 10th inning. That game marked the fourth straight contest between A&M and BU that ended in a one-run decision.
Baylor came out ahead in the last two meetings, but the Aggies swept the Lady Bears in the regular season last year and lead the all-time series, 53-20-1.
FOLLOW THE ACTION
Free live stats, live audio and live video will be provided for Wednesday's game on AggieAthletics.com. In addition, fans can listen to the broadcast live on Sports Radio 1150 The Zone, making it available worldwide on any iPhone, iPod Touch, Blackberry or PDA free of charge. Log on to RadioAggieland.com for more information.
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 games.
ON DECK
The Aggies wrap up the 2010 season on the road, traveling to Texas Tech this weekend before a jaunt to No. 11 Oklahoma State on May 8-9.
LAST TIME OUT
Freshman Rhi Kliesing who came through with a walk-off, RBI single in the bottom of the seventh to give the Aggies a 6-5 win over No. 11 Missouri and a split in the series. In front of 1,076 fans and with the Aggies an out away from extra innings, freshman Amanda Scarborough (2005) and Lisa Klam (1999) each blasted six home runs in league play their freshman seasons.
LEADING THE WAY
May leads A&M with a .415 batting average and 56 hits. She holds a conference-best 20 home runs, 43 walks, 57 RBIs, 131 total bases a .568 on base percentage and a .970 slugging percentage. Kliesing is second on the team with a .384 batting average, 53 hits, eight home runs and 44 RBIs. Sophomore Rebecca Arbino (18-8) leads the league with nine shutouts, while Dumezich (12-1) posts the lowest ERA on the team at 2.02.
In conference games, Kliesing has a team-best .382 batting average with 13 hits and three doubles. May (.345) has 12 RBIs and freshman Lauren Schwirtlich (.295) also records 13 hits. In addition, in Big 12 only games, May leads the conference with six home runs, a .966 slugging percentage and 16 walks. The Aggies lead the league with 59 walks, including the top three individuals in May, Reynolds (11 walks) and Kliesing (10 walks).
SCOUTING BAYLOR
The Lady Bears are coming off of their first conference sweep against the Cyclones last weekend and look to move up in the standings after being picked to finish third in the Big 12 Preseason Poll. The team is led by Nicole Wesley who holds a .403 batting average, a team-high 26 runs and is 20-of-20 in stolen bases. Kayce Walker (.362) posts 51 hits and 21 stolen bases, while Tiffany Wesley (.360) and Vannatta Jordan (.308) are also hitting above .300. Freshman Courtney Repka (18-13) is the team's #1 in the circle. She has 136 strikeouts in 208.0 innings pitched, and has also hit 23 batters which is nearly the total of the entire A&M pitching staff. In league play, Walker has stepped up with a .415 average and 17 hits.
THE LAST MEETING – 3/31/10
Despite a two-run home run by May, Texas A&M dropped a 3-2, 10-inning heartbreaker to No. 24 Baylor at Getterman Stadium. The Aggies carried a 2-0 lead into the seventh, but a two-run double by Courtney Nieten in the bottom of the inning evened the game and forced extra innings. The international tiebreaker rule went into effect in the 10th inning and after A&M was held scoreless in the top of the frame, BU's Dani Leal scored the game-winning run on a two-out wild pitch. Baylor picked up its first conference win, while the Aggies fell for the first time in league play. Six-foot two-inch, Baylor right-hander, Repka struck out a career-high 11 for the win. She allowed just three hits, two runs and walked three.
EVANS GETS 850 CAREER WINS
Head coach Jo Evans earned her 850th career win on April 25 against Missouri. One of the winningest active DI coaches in softball today, Evans holds an 850-478-2 overall record. At the beginning of the season she ranked 15th in career victories among active DI coaches.
MAY IN THE RECORD BOOK
May has already written her name in the top 10 of many season records, including home runs (1st), RBIs (3rd), total bases (3rd), walks (4th), and doubles (tied for 7th). She also ranks eighth for career home runs.
AGGIES IN THE POLLS
Texas A&M moved up a spot in the polls this week to No. 20 in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Top 25 and remained steady at No. 22 in the USA Today/NFCA poll. A&M's remaining ranked opponents are No. 11 Oklahoma State.