No. 22 Aggies Blank Liberty, Fall to Jacksonville in Midweek Doubleheader

Thursday, March 17

Clearwater, Fla.

10:00 AM

Texas A&M

21-6

Liberty

7-7

Liberty

Texas A&M

Mar 17, 2011 | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

By: Texas A&M Athletics

March 17, 2011

CLEARWATER, Fla. - The No. 22 Texas A&M softball team split games in a midweek doubleheader against Liberty and Jacksonville Thursday at the Eddie C. Moore Complex.

A two-run home run by sophomore Mel Dumezich gave the Aggies (21-7) the push they needed to perform a 4-0 shutout of Liberty (7-7). The team then fell to Jacksonville (16-9) in a 3-1 heartbreaker.

The Aggies were unable to get a runner on base against the Flames until the bottom of the fourth when junior Natalie Villarreal drew a walk. She was batted to second on a sacrifice bunt by freshman Cassie Tysarczyk, but was left stranded in the end of the inning.

Freshman Amber Garza kept the momentum in the fifth, leading off with a single up the middle for A&M's first hit of the game. Senior Kelsey Spittler placed a bunt in front of the batter's box and sent Garza to second on the sacrifice.

Dumezich stepped up and smacked a home run over right field, shoving Garza home with her for the 2-0 lead. Freshman Emily Albus took first on a fielder's choice, and with two outs Villarreal lasered an RBI double down the left field line that bounced off of the third baseman's glove and gave Albus time to score from first.

Tysarczyk pounded a second RBI double of the inning, to left-center, scoring Villarreal to expand the lead to 4-0. The Flames were unable to respond and A&M walked away with its 21st win of the season.

"I thought Mel did a really nice job," head coach Jo Evans said. "She goes out there and the first batter she got behind on and then found a way to come back and get an out. When she makes a mistake it's nice for her because she's in control, you know, `give me the ball, I'm going to take care of this.' It's nice to know that she can take over a game and say, `Not on my watch. I'm not going to let this turn into a big inning'."

Dumezich (11-4) earned the win and her fifth shutout of the season. The Whiting, Ind., native tied her season high with 10 strikeouts, and allowed no runs on three hits. Liberty thrower Katrina Johnson (3-3) suffered the loss, fanning one batter and giving up four earned runs.

In game two, Jacksonville took an early 2-0 lead in the first inning with no outs. An RBI single by Sarah Simon sent Kayla Ouellet home before Amanda Schmidt scored on a passed ball.

The Aggies answered with a run in the bottom of the inning. Villarreal singled up the middle and took second on a sacrifice bunt by Tysarczyk. She tagged up and took third when senior Rhi Kliesing popped out to center field. From third, Villarreal stole home on a wild pitch to give the Aggies their only run of the game.

Sophomore Meagan May drew a walk in the bottom of the fourth, but was left there in the end of the inning. The Dolphins shoved ahead 3-1 in the top of the fifth when Ouellet went home on an RBI single up the middle by Meagan Balding.

A&M got another chance at a run in the bottom of the fifth, putting a batter as far as second. Freshman Lauren Schwirtlich entered to run.

Freshman Emily Albus bunted and reached first on a fielder's choice. Schwirtlich sped to second and was safe on the play as she beat the throw from third. The two runners were left stranded in the inning.

The Aggies were unable to rally from the 3-1 deficit and the team's seven-game winning streak ended in a loss to Jacksonville.

Redshirt junior Lindsey Sisk (10-3) suffered the loss, striking out five batters and allowing three runs. The Dolphins' Sarah Sigrest (8-3) picked up the win, giving up one run on one hit and fanning five batters.

"We had so many throw-away at-bats and didn't make adjustments at the plate," Evans said. "Jacksonville played really well. I thought their pitcher did a nice job. We had lots of lazy fly balls and lots of pop-ups. We just didn't bring some intensity and competitiveness to the plate."

The Aggies jump into the South Florida (USF) The Game Tournament tomorrow, starting with an 11:30 a.m. game against Buffalo and following with a 4:30 contest with USF in Tampa. Follow the games live on AggieAthletics.com or on 95.1-3 HD.