Texas A&M
20-6
Louisiana Tech
7-19
No. 22 Aggies Down Louisiana Tech, 11-0, in Final Day of Texas A&M Invitational
Mar 13, 2011 | Softball
March 13, 2011
COLLEGE STATION, Texas - Junior Natalie Villarreal hit her second grand slam of the weekend as the No. 22 Texas A&M softball team shut out Louisiana Tech, 11-0, in the final day of the Texas A&M Invitational.
The Aggies (20-6) went 5-0 on the weekend, slugging 16 home runs in five games to win the tournament. A&M scored 23 runs in the first innings of the last three games combined. The team hit nine singles against Louisiana Tech (7-19), seven in the first inning alone.
The Aggies gave the Lady Techsters no chance as they crossed the plate nine times with one out in the first inning on seven singles and a grand slam. Junior Natalie Villarreal led off with a single up the left field line and was joined on the bags by freshman Cassie Tysarczyk who drew a walk.
Senior Rhi Kliesing added a single of her own, a blast that slammed into the wall in right field. Sophomore Meagan May stepped up behind her and pounded an RBI single through the left side, scoring Villarreal.
A second RBI single, by freshman Amber Garza, scored a second run for the Aggies. Senior Kelsey Spittler took a ball four, and with the bases loaded freshman Nicole Morgan hit a long single to center and sent May and Garza in for the 4-0 lead.
Junior Kelsea Orsak punched a bunt single and sophomore Brittany Walker took a pitch to the body that forced Spittler home and once again loaded the bases.
Villarreal stepped up to bat for a second time in the inning and powered her second grand slam of the weekend out of the park to push the Aggies out to a 9-0 lead with one out in the first.
"Nat looked great at the plate," head coach Jo Evans said. "We're really hitting the ball well all through the order. I'm excited about Nicole Morgan. It's taken awhile to get in the groove, get in a rhythm and this weekend we as a staff made a decision that no matter what, we're going to put her in the game and see how she does, get her comfortable, get her in the groove, and I think that's really helped her. She did really well swinging the bat."
The last two runs of the game came in the bottom of the fourth when Garza slugged a long double to left-center. Spittler pushed her to third with a single through the left side before Morgan picked up her third RBI of the game on a single down the left field line that scored Garza.
Redshirt junior Lindsey Sisk (10-2) picked up her fourth shutout with the win, giving up three singles but never allowing a batter past second base. The Murrieta, Calif., native struck out three batters in five complete innings. Louisiana Tech's Michelle Jones (3-3) suffered the loss, giving up nine earned runs in 0.1 innings in the circle.
"Lindsey is really comfortable right now in her rhythm," Evans said. "She saw all three catchers this weekend and I think they all did a good job with her, knowing what she wanted to throw. We talked about her finding a pitch that she can get an out with and I think she's done a good job this weekend with that."
Up next, the Aggies travel to Tampa this week for a seven-game road trip, including five games in the University of South Florida Tournament. For more information on A&M Softball, log onto AggieAthletics.com.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Sisk, Lindsey (10-2)
L: Jones, Michelle (3-3)
Batting:
2B: Garza, Amber 1
HR: Villarreal, Natalie 1
RBI: Villarreal, Natalie 4 ; May, Meagan 1 ; Garza, Amber 1 ; Morgan, Nicole 3 ; Orsak, Kelsea 1
SH: Orsak, Kelsea 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Villarreal, Natalie 1 ; Tysarczyk, Cassie 1 ; Kliesing, Rhiannon 1 ; May, Meagan 1 ; Garza, Amber 2 ; Spittler, Kelsey 1 ; Tovar, Andrea 1 ; Morgan, Nicole 1 ; Orsak, Kelsea 1 ; Walker, Brittany 1
CS: Villarreal, Natalie 1
HBP: Morgan, Nicole 1 ; Walker, Brittany 1
PO: Walker, Brittany 1
