Softball Blanks UTSA, 4-0

Wednesday, March 9

College Station

6:30 PM

Texas A&M

15-6

UTSA

5-13

UTSA

Texas A&M

Mar 09, 2011 | Softball

Box Score

By: Texas A&M Athletics

March 9, 2011

Final Stats

COLLEGE STATION, Texas - A three-run first inning gave the Aggies an early lead as the No. 22 Texas A&M softball team shut out UTSA, 4-0, Wednesday at the Aggie Softball Complex.

With the wind blowing into the stadium, the Aggies led off in the bottom of the first with hot bats. Junior Rhi Kliesing, her eighth home run of the season.

"I knew if Rhi could have a good at bat, she'd settle herself down and be OK," head coach Jo Evans said. "She had two strikes on her, but she wanted that ball. At that point, the wind was really blowing, so she had to really cut it through the wind. I'm very happy for her. I feel like she was really stressing over the weekend and trying to do too much. It's great to see her get up there and get the home run."

Sophomore Meagan May stepped into the batter's box right behind Kliesing and sent the first pitch out of the park over right center field for the 3-0 lead.

In the circle for A&M, redshirt junior Lindsey Sisk (7-2) held the Roadrunners to a scoreless game. The right-handed pitcher allowed only four hits and fanned four batters for the shutout.

"We're just asking our pitchers to throw outs," Evans said. "Let us make outs. What I'm most excited about right now is our defense. I'm so pleased with the way our defense took care of the ball and made plays. When our defense plays like that, a pitcher can settle in and know she doesn't have to be perfect. She doesn't have to think about, `Oh, I have to throw strikeouts, or I can't get somebody out.' When our defense plays like that, we're going to win a lot of ballgames."

Sophomore Brittany Walker singled to right field in the bottom of the second, but was unable to turn it into a run. Sisk also added a base hit to the Aggies' tally, down the left field line in the bottom of the fourth.

The final run of the game came in the fifth inning. Freshman Cassie Tysarczyk singled to right field and was forced to second on another single by May. May was 2-for-3 on the night.

Tysarczyk crossed the plate on an RBI double down the left field line by classmate Amber Garza, giving A&M a four-run advantage at the end of the game.

UTSA starter Haylee Staton (2-5) suffered the loss for the Roadrunners. She gave up five hits and three earned runs in three innings pitched.

A&M will host Mississippi Valley State, Louisiana Tech and San Diego State this weekend in the Texas A&M Invitational. Log on to AggieAthletics.com for more information on Aggie softball.