COLLEGE STATION, Texas - Riding a five-game winning streak and a 32-game streak at home, the No. 14 Texas A&M softball team travels to the Cathedral City Classic this weekend.
The Aggies will play five opponents in the tournament: No. 1 Florida at noon on Thursday, New Mexico (RV) at 2:30 p.m. Thursday, No. 5 Washington at 12:30 p.m. on Friday, BYU (RV) at 3 p.m. Friday and Pacific at 11:30 a.m. Saturday. All times are Central and each game will be played at the Big League Dreams Sports Park in Cathedral City, Calif.
LAST TIME OUT
Last weekend the Aggies fought through looming rain and four games to sweep the Aggie Classic at home. Junior Mel Dumezich and senior Lindsey Sisk were each 2-0 on the weekend from the circle. A&M earned its first shutout victory of the season with a 1-0 win over North Carolina State in game one of the tournament. Senior Natalie Villarreal scored on a sacrifice fly by junior Meagan May to start the Aggies off right.
NC State took a second tumble against the top-15 Aggies on Saturday as A&M secured a 3-2 victory over the Wolfpack. Â Villarreal scored on a trio of errors before solo bombs by May and junior Sydney Shannon added to the tally. On Sunday A&M slammed Tulsa, 5-1. Sophomore Taran Tyler and Shannon each had RBI hits vs. the Golden Hurricane, and each player was crucial to the Aggies' 3-1 victory over UTSA to finish the day. Trailing 1-0 heading into the bottom of the seventh, Shannon hit a double that put runners on second and third before Tyler went yard for a walk-off, 3-1 victory.
FOLLOW THE ACTION
Live stats and live audio will be provided for every game this season on AggieAthletics.com, while live streaming video will be offered at each of the Aggies' home games. Fans can also listen to several of the Aggies' games live locally on Sports Radio 1150 AM. Each A&M game this weekend will be featured on 95.1-3 The Zone HD, making it available worldwide on any smartphone or HD radio. Saturday's game vs. Pacific will also be broadcast locally on Sports Radio 1150 AM. Log on to RadioAggieland.com for more information.
TAKE ME OUT TO THE BALLGAME
As part of the Take Me Out to the Ballgame promotion, two kids will get in free with the purchase of one adult ticket every Sunday. Fans can also enjoy the same deal during the Thursday, March 8 game vs. Monmouth.
AGGIES IN THE POLLS
Texas A&M is ranked 14th in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Top 25 Poll, and was slated at No. 16 in the USA Today/NFCA rankings. The Aggies' remaining 2012 opponents appearing in the polls are No. 1/3 Florida, No. 3/1 California, No. 6/6 Oklahoma, No. 11/11 Missouri, No. 5/7 Washington, No. 9/10 Baylor, No. 8/8 Texas, No. 21 Oklahoma State, No. 23/23 Houston, No. 22/22 Nebraska and No. 25 Hawaii. In addition New Mexico, Hawaii, Oklahoma State and BYU are receiving votes.
ON DECK
The Aggies will return to Texas for a 4 p.m. Wednesday at Sam Houston State. The Aggies defeated the Bearkats last week, 7-4. Dumezich hit a grand slam to secure the victory for A&M.
FAN FEST
Dumezich broke her personal career record for strikeouts in a game with 13 vs. Northwestern, forcing 11 batters to swing at the last pitch and catching two batters looking. The right-handed hurler's 425 strikeouts rank ninth all-time for A&M.
FRESHMAN FIVE
Evans welcomes a group of five freshmen to the team this season. Lauren Ainsley (RHP - La Vernia, Texas), Brittany Clopton (OF - Montgomery, Texas), Kayla Klein (RHP - Whittier, Calif.), Sara Mireles (LHP - New Braunfels, Texas) and Lauren Tamayo (UT - Roanoke, Texas) will put on the Maroon & White in 2012.
SCOUTING FLORIDA
The University of Florida softball team began the season with very high expectations. Ranked No. 1in multiple polls, the Gators are hoping for a return trip to the Women's College World Series this season after finishing 2011 as the National Runners-Up. Head Coach Tim Walton has compiled a 331-80 record at Florida. The Gators will be looking for their fourth SEC championship this season and their 13th trip to the postseason. They return 10 letterwinners from last year's squad, as well as six starters. The Gators are off to a hot start so far this season, compiling a 9-0 record while outscoring opponents 79-9. Brittany Schutte and Sami Fagan have paced the offense so far this season. Fagan has a .552 batting average, with three stolen bases and 12 runs. Horton has provided the power of the offense thus far with two home runs, three doubles, 12 RBI, and a .560 batting average. Splitting the rubber for the Gators will be Hannah Rogers (5-0, 0.00 ERA, 23.2 IP, 29 Ks) and Lauren Haeger (3-0, 1.64 ERA, 21.1 IP, 26 Ks).
The Aggies and Gators have each won three games in the six-contest history between the two schools. The teams last met in 2009 at the NCAA Gainesville Regional when Florida defeated A&M, 1-7.
SCOUTING NEW MEXICO
The New Mexico Lobos has a lot to look forward to in the 2012 season, returning 14 letterwinners and 10 starters. The Lobos are led by Erica Beach who is in her second season at New Mexico, after a disappointing 19-26 record in 2011, going 5-10 against the Mountain West Conference to earn a fifth place finish. The Lobos are off to a good start this season with a 9-1 record, and a huge win coming in the opener against then-No. 11 Oregon. New Mexico has been carried by the offense this year, scoring at least five runs in all 10 games this season. The Lobos are led by pitchers Kaela DeBroeck (5-0) and Carrie Sheehan (4-1).
The Aggies hold a 16-5 advantage over the Lobos and have come out ahead in the past two meetings. The last game A&M and New Mexico played in was in 2004 at the Kajikawa Classic. A&M won that matchup, 4-0.
SCOUTING WASHINGTON
The Washington Huskies are off to a fantastic start this season, going 10-0 under Head Coach Heather Tarr. Tarr holds a record of 280-128 in her seven seasons at the University of Washington. This season the Huskies return 10 letterwinners and eight starters from last year's team that advanced to the NCAA Super Regionals and finished the season ranked No. 12. So far this season, the Huskies have had a good balance of pitching and offense to win games. The pitching staff has already thrown four shutouts this season and the offense is averaging nearly eight runs per game. The top returners for the 2012 Huskies are outfielders Kimi Pohlman and Taylor Smith, both seniors. Kaitlin Inglesby has led the pitching rotation with a 5-0 record. Pohlman thus far has posted a .500 batting average with 10 RBI. Inglesby has led both the offense and the pitching staff with a .444 batting average, 3 home runs, 13 RBI, a 1.27 ERA, and 23 strikeouts thrown.
Washington has a 5-3 record over A&M. The teams last met in the Cathedral City Classic last season, a game that ended in a heartbreaking 4-11 loss for the Aggies.
SCOUTING BYU
The BYU Cougars are led by head coach Gordon Eakin, posting a 371-160 record over his nine-year history with the school. The Cougars are coming off a very impressive season in which they went 40-18 with an 11-2 record in conference, helping them claim the WAC championship. The Cougars return 14 letterwinners from last year's team, as well as five starters. So far this season the Cougars are off to a decent start, going 7-3 through their first 10 games. The offense is led by Delaney Willard who is batting .536 with seven home runs and 18 RBI. The pitching staff has been led by Caroline Umphlett with a 4-0 record, 2.16 ERA, and 16 strikeouts.
The Cougars are 6-5 against A&M, winning the last four contests. The teams last met two weeks ago at the Kajikawa Classic when BYU pulled out a 3-2 win over the Aggies.
SCOUTING PACIFIC
Head Coach Brian Kolze looks to lead the Pacific Tigers to another successful season and another Big West Conference Championship. In his 20 years coaching, Kolze looks to build on his 580-485 record during the 2012 campaign. In 2011, the Tigers posted a 37-19 record and secured the Big West Title. The 2012 season hasn't started off quite like the Tigers expected. With a 2-5 record, the Tigers look to get things turned around in the Cathedral City Classic this weekend. One bright spot so far this season is Nikki Armaqost posting a team-high .409 batting average and leading the team from the circle with a 1-2 record, 1.56 ERA, and 18.0 innings pitched.
The history between A&M and Pacific is one that has been on hold for almost eight years. The teams last met in 2004 when A&M suffered a 0-1 loss to the Tigers. Pacific leads the all-time series, 4-3.
HOME FIELD ADVANTAGE
The Aggies are on a program-best 32-game home winning streak, starting April 25, 2010. The streak is also the longest active home winning streak in the nation as the Aggies went undefeated at home in 2011. This is the longest home winning streak A&M has had since the program's inception in 1981. The previous record holder by Aggie softball was a 21-game ride from Feb. 19, 2005-May 22, 2005.
NATIONALLY RANKED
The Aggies consistently found themselves among the best in the nation in several categories last season. In the final NCAA Statistical Ranking Summary, A&M ranked 29th in ERA (1.95), 28th in fielding percentage (0.971), 27th in scoring (5.59), 20th in win-loss percentage (0.746), fifth in home runs per game (1.37) and 19th in slugging percentage (0.497). Individually, Rhi Kliesing was 13th in home runs and 24th in home runs per game (0.31) while May was ranked 33rd. May was also 30th in RBI per game (1.02). May's 0.77 walks per game on average were 21st in the nation and her four sacrifice flies ranked 18th. From the circle, Dumezich ranked 13th in victories (30), 31st in hits per seven innings (4.72), 33rd in strikeouts (262) and 12th in shutouts (12).
ACTIVE ALL-AMERICANS
In 2011 Dumezich was named to the Louisville Slugger/NFCA All-American second team after earning a 1.92 ERA in 247 1/3 Innings pitched. The junior gave up only 68 runs while fanning 262 batters as a sophomore and ranks ninth on the Aggies' career strikeouts list.
May earned All-America second team honors in 2010 as a freshman. The standout catcher broke the team and Big 12 records for home runs in a season after clearing the fence 24 times. She also posted a team-leading .405 batting average, 66 hits, 16 doubles, 62 RBI, a .945 slugging percentage and a .557 on base percentage. May was one of only six Aggies to earn the honor as a freshman.
TICKETS
Tickets for the 2012 softball season can be purchased through the 12th Man Foundation Ticket Office for $5-$8. Fans can purchase tickets to every home game in person at The Zone at Kyle Field box office, online at www.12thManFoundation.com, or over the phone at 1-888-99-AGGIE (2-4443) or (979) 845-2311. The ticket window at the Aggie Softball Complex will open one hour prior to each home game, at which time remaining tickets may be purchased at the gate.
PARKING
Parking this season is free for each home game that does not share a date with a baseball or basketball game. Fans can park in Reed Arena Lot 100, across the street from the Aggie Softball Complex. For conflicting dates, fans will be charged $5 to park.
BIG 12 PRESEASON POLL
A&M was picked to finish fifth in the Big 12 Preseason Coaches' Poll. The Aggies received 37 points and finished behind preseason favorite Missouri (59), and Oklahoma (56), Texas (50) and Baylor (45). A&M was selected as the frontrunner for three consecutive years, from 2006-08, and was picked fourth last season, ending 2011 in third place. Oklahoma State placed sixth with 32 points, followed by Texas Tech (22), Kansas (13) and Iowa State (10).
GET IT LIVE
Live audio and live stats are featured in every A&M game in 2012. 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.