May 3, 2011
Complete Release in PDF Format 
COLLEGE STATION, Texas -
The 22nd-Ranked Texas A&M softball team (36-13, 8-5 Big 12) aims to extend a 19-game home winning streak and avenge a one-run April loss to No. 3 Texas (44-5, 13-1 Big 12) as the Aggies host the conference-leading Longhorns in the final softball game of the 2011 State Farm Lone Star Showdown. First pitch Wednesday is set to air nationally on FSN at 6:30 p.m. at the Aggie Softball Complex.
Tickets remain available for the event and can be purchased ahead of time online at 12thmanfoundation.com/tickets, over the phone at 979-845-2311 or 888-992-4443 (toll-free), or in person at the Zone at Kyle Field or Reed Arena box offices. Tickets can also be purchased at the gate upon arrival starting one hour prior to first pitch.
In April, the then-No. 5 Longhorns defeated the Aggies, 4-3 at McCombs Field, in their only lead of the night on a walk-off wild pitch in the seventh inning. A&M freshman Amber Garza had a solo home run and a walk to lead the team with two RBI on the night. The game entered the bottom of the seventh with the Aggies in their third one-run lead of the night. A solo bomb by Texas tied the game before the winning run flew home on the wild pitch. The Aggie batters upset right-handed ace Blaire Luna, forcing her to be relieved, for the first time all season, by freshman Rachel Fox.
The Aggies split games with the Longhorns in 2010, winning 1-0 on a walk-off RBI single by then-freshman Mel Dumezich at home before falling, 4-1, in Austin. The base hit came with two outs in the bottom of the seventh in front of 1,281 people to break Texas' eight-game winning streak.
A&M trails Texas in the 2011 State Farm Lone Star Showdown, 7-8.5 points. The winner of Wednesday's contest will earn half of a point for their school. A total of 19 points are available in the A&M-Texas varsity sport rivalry.
AGGIE SOFTBALL ON TV WEDNESDAY
The A&M/Texas contest airs nationally on FSN. Brenda VanLengen and Tracy Warren will cover the game live from the Aggie Softball Complex. The Aggies are one of just four Big 12 schools to have a regular season game televised nationally this season.
FOLLOW THE ACTION
If you're not able to tune into FSN Wednesday, you can still follow the game. Live stats and live audio will be provided for every game this season on AggieAthletics.com. Fans can listen to Wednesday's game live on Sports Radio 1150 AM. Log on to RadioAggieland.com for more information.
LAST TIME OUT
The No. 21 Aggies swept Kansas in a two-game conference series at Arrocha Ballpark. A&M eked out a 3-2 win over the Jayhawks on Saturday before run-ruling KU, 13-0, in five innings on Sunday. Sophomore Mel Dumezich picked up two wins from the circle, hurling 10 strikeouts in 12 innings of work while allowing only two earned runs. The right-handed pitcher posted a 1.17 ERA on the weekend, collecting her 11th solo shutout of the season. Senior Kelsey Spittler continued her conference excellence, hitting .857 on the weekend after going 6-for-7 from the plate with a home run, four RBI and three runs scored.
Redshirt junior Rhi Kliesing is close behind with a .352 batting average. She leads the team with 15 home runs, 46 RBI, 98 total bases and 36 walks. Dumezich and redshirt junior Lindsey Sisk combine for a 1.90 ERA from the circle. Dumezich (22-8) holds a 1.83 ERA this season with 11 solo shutouts in 179 2/3 innings of work. She has thrown 204 strikeouts in 26 complete games. Sisk (14-5) has a 2.00 ERA in 22 starts. She has allowed only 38 earned runs in 133 innings pitched while fanning 92 batters.
SCOUTING TEXAS
The Longhorns are 44-5 this season and lead the Big 12 with a 13-1 conference mark. In 2010, Texas ended the season at the NCAA Regional, ranked 18th in the nation with a 43-15 overall record after winning the Big 12 regular season title at 14-2 in conference. Last weekend the third-ranked Longhorns split a two-game series with No. 14 Oklahoma in Austin. In the circle, sophomore All-American Blaire Luna (26-3) led the team to a 5-3 victory over the Sooners after a 5-0 shutout devastated Texas on ESPN.
Leading the Texas offense in 2011 is junior Lexy Bennett, who will be out of commission against the Aggies with a broken arm. Sophomore Torie Schmidt is hitting .368 on the season with 23 runs on 49 hits and 25 RBI. Freshman Brejae Washington also posts a .368 average from the plate, scoring 43 runs with 50 hits, five of them triples. Luna has thrown 14 solo shutouts in 25 complete games, fanning 276 batters on her way to a 1.06 ERA.
AGGIE CONNECTION
Texas assistant coach Jennifer McFalls is an Aggie All-American and a member of the Texas A&M Hall of Fame. The shortstop and 1997 A&M graduate led the Aggies in batting average, hits, total bases and slugging percentage in each of her four seasons with the team and was named A&M's Female Athlete of the Year in 1994. In her first year with the Longhorns, McFalls was a member of the U.S. National Team from 1994-2000 and scored the gold medal-winning run in the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney. She was most-recently the head softball coach and assistant athletics director at Midlothian High School in Midlothian, Texas.
SPITTLER NAMED PLAYER OF THE WEEK
After a stellar performance against KU last weekend, Spittler was named Big 12 Player of the Week for the first time in her career. The Caldwell, Texas, native was 6-for-7 last weekend with a home run, four RBI and three runs scored for an outstanding .857 average. The senior never struck out, and led the Aggies with nine total bases in two games. She leads the Aggies in conference-only games with a .429 average and a team-high 15 hits and 20 total bases. Spittler sits at second in the conference for Big 12-only games in individual batting and ranks third in conference-only stats in on-base percentage.
HOME FIELD ADVANTAGE
The Aggies are on a 19-game home winning streak, starting April 25, 2010. This is the second-longest home winning streak A&M has had since the program's inception in 1981. The longest winning streak at home by Aggie softball was a 20-game ride from Feb. 19, 2005-May 22, 2005.
HOME RUNS GALORE
A&M has tallied 63 home runs this season, including six grand slams, in 49 games. The team sits at 16th in the nation in the most recent NCAA statistical rankings in home runs per game with a 1.29 average. Kliesing is 22nd in the nation with 15 home runs and is 34th in home runs per game, individually. Of A&M's 19 players, 12 have gone yard in 2011. Undefeated at home, the Aggies have cleared their own fence 34 times, including three times in the one-run victory over No. 15 Baylor and once against No. 12 Nebraska. The team also had a solo bomb against top-ranked Arizona early in the season.
NATIONALLY-RANKED
The Aggies are ranked in the top 25 in the most recent RPI standings in two categories (through games May 1) - home runs per game (16) and slugging percentage (25), and sat at 24th in RPI rankings as of April 27. Individually, Kliesing sits at 22nd in home runs. Dumezich ranks seventh in the nation in shutouts and 22nd in victories. May is 12th in sacrifice flies and 23rd in RBI per game.
ON DECK
The Aggies host No. 16 Oklahoma State in a two-game Big 12 series this weekend. The games Saturday and Sunday are both slated for a 1 p.m. start.
PARKING 5/13-5/14
Due to graduation ceremonies at Reed Arena on Friday, May 13 and Saturday, May 14, softball attendees are asked to use parking spaces in West Campus Garage and Lot 61 for the Texas Tech series that weekend. Parking maps are available at transport.tamu.edu.
AGGIES IN THE POLLS
Texas A&M started the season ranked in the top 25 in both preseason national polls, and is currently ranked No. 22 by both ESPN.com/USA Softball and USA Today/NFCA. A&M's remaining opponents appearing in the polls are No. 3/4 Texas and No. 16/18 Oklahoma State. In addition, Texas Tech is receiving votes.
BIG 12 PRESEASON POLL
A&M was picked to finish fourth in the Big 12 Preseason Coaches' Poll. The Aggies received 54 points and finished behind preseason favorite Oklahoma (79), Missouri (71) and Texas (69). A&M was selected as the frontrunner for three consecutive years, from 2006-08, and was picked sixth last season. Oklahoma State placed fifth with 50 points, followed by Baylor (40), Texas Tech (33), Nebraska (26), Iowa State (15) and Kansas (13).
GET IT LIVE
Live audio and live stats are featured in every A&M game in 2011. Several contests will be aired on Sports Radio 1150 AM. All other games will be broadcast live on AggieAthletics.com and on 95.1-3 The Zone HD, making it available worldwide on any iPhone, iPod Touch, Blackberry or PDA free of charge. Log on to RadioAggieland.com for more information.