Texas A&M
Oregon
No. 19 Softball Drops 4-0 Decision to Ducks
Feb 26, 2010 | Softball
Feb. 26, 2010
CATHEDRAL CITY, Calif. - Oregon plated four runs in the top of the sixth innings to break up a scoreless ballgame and give the Ducks a 4-0 victory over the No. 19 Texas A&M softball team on Thursday night in the Cathedral City Classic at the Big League Dreams Sports Park.
The Aggies (10-3) fell despite a strong start from sophomore pitcher Rebecca Arbino. Oregon improved to 10-4 with its second win of the day.
"We're just out of sorts right now at the plate," said head coach Jo Evans. "The game can be simple or it can be really hard and right now we're making it really hard. We keep talking about having a short memory with our at-bats. Leave it behind you and move forward, and I don't think we did a real good job of that tonight. I can see our youth right now exposed and it's important for us to play the game loosely. The biggest thing for us is to put this day behind us and not bring it out here tomorrow."
In the bottom of the first, the Aggies moved runners into scoring position right from the get-go. Junior Kelsey Spittler reached on a one-out error and advanced all the way to third, but a strikeout ended the inning and A&M's first chance to plate a run.
The game remained a scoreless battle and Arbino took over in the circle fanning four straight and striking out the side in the third frame.
Senior Alex Reynolds gave the Aggies another scoring opportunity in the fourth. She skied a ball in the infield that went off the glove of the UO shortstop before freshman Melissa Dumezich skipped a single through the left side.
In the top of the sixth, Cortney Kivett led off with a double slapped down the left field line and was scored with a single from Allie Burger. The next two UO batters reached and Sam Pappas plated two more with a hard-hit double to right center. Monique Fuiava made the score 4-0 with an RBI single to right.
In the bottom of the inning, the Aggies appeared to be in business. Junior Rhi Kliesing led off with a single up the middle and Reynolds followed with a high-hit double off the left-center fence, but Oregon pitcher Jessica Moore got herself out of the jam and struck out three straight.
Dumezich relieved Arbino in the circle in the sixth and provided another bright spot by striking out the side in the top of the seventh. Senior Macie Morrow added a one-out base hit in the bottom of the seventh, but A&M stranded its ninth batter of the game.
Moore (4-1) threw a complete game shutout allowing five hits, walking just one and striking out 11.
Arbino (4-2) picked up the loss after going five and one-thirds innings. She struck out five and gave up four runs and four hits. Dumezich threw one and two-thirds innings, allowed one hit and fanned three.
"I thought Mel did a good job and it's important for her to get the experience," Evans said. "Arbino threw real well and it just got away from her in that last inning."
No player from either team recorded more than one hit.
Texas A&M turns to day two action in the Cathedral City Classic tomorrow. The Aggies play back-to-back games against UNLV at 5 p.m. and against San Diego State at 7:30 p.m.
