COLLEGE STATION, Texas - The No. 21 Texas A&M softball team (10-6) looks to continue its 32-game home winning streak this weekend as the Aggies host the Texas A&M Invitational.
The Aggies will play host three opponents at the Aggie Softball Complex: No. 24 Nebraska, Houston and Texas State. A&M will open play on Friday against Nebraska at 3 p.m. and will follow with a 5:15 p.m. game vs. the Bobcats. On Saturday, the Aggies will play UH at 3 p.m. and will rematch with the Cornhuskers at 5:15 p.m. A&M will then close out the weekend with a 12:15 p.m. Sunday game against the Cougars. All times are Central.
LAST TIME OUT
Last weekend the Aggies clawed their way to a 1-4 finish against challenging opponents, including No. 1 Florida and No. 5 Washington, at the Cathedral City Classic. A&M avenged their first loss of the season, vs. BYU, in a 14-8 extra-inning victory. Junior Mel Dumezich hit two grand slams against the Cougars to tie an NCAA single-game record and pick up a career-high eight RBI.
On Wednesday the Aggies travelled to Huntsville to take on host school Sam Houston State in the final matchup of a two-game 2012 series between the teams. The Aggies took a 4-1 victory to sweep the series, highlighted by back-to-back bombs by junior Sydney Shannon and Dumezich.
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. Both of the Aggies' Saturday games 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 21st in both the ESPN.com/USA Softball Top 25 Poll and the USA Today/NFCA rankings. The Aggies' remaining 2012 opponents appearing in the polls are No. 2/1 California, No. 8/9 Oklahoma, No. 13/13 Missouri, No. 10/11 Baylor, No. 6/6 Texas, No. 23 Oklahoma State, No. 24 Nebraska and No. 22/22 Hawaii. In addition Houston and Nebraska are receiving votes.
ON DECK
The Aggies will host their final tournament of the season, the Aggie Invitational, next weekend at the Aggie Softball Complex. Monmouth, Liberty and North Dakota State will make the trip to play five games each.
MAKING HISTORY
Dumezich's two grand slams vs. BYU last weekend tied an NCAA single-game record. Only three other players in the history of Division I softball have hit base-clearing long balls, the most recent being in 2007. Dumezich joins sophomore Amber Garza at No. 3 on the single-season grand slams list with three, as she powered a grand slam in the Aggies' home opener against Sam Houston State. Garza hit three grand slams last season, two of them in the NCAA College Station Regional.
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 NEBRASKA
The Cornhuskers are off to a strong start in their first Big Ten Conference season at 9-7, with big wins that include an early upset over No. 8 Arizona at the Kajikawa Classic. The team has seven players hitting above .300 and already has 142 hits and 115 runs on the season, reaching the 100 run mark after only 13 games to break a school record. Ashley Guile and Taylor Edwards have twin .426 averages from the plate and 20 hits each. Guile leads the team with 18 RBI while Edwards is out in front with 18 runs, six doubles, two home runs and 32 total bases. In the circle, Tatum Edwards (4-2) and Ashley Hagemann (5-5) have combined for the team's record. Hagemann has recorded 80 strikeouts in 69.2 innings, while walking 44 batters and giving up 37 earned runs on 65 hits.
The Aggies own a 36-24 all-time record over the Huskers. The teams have played each other every year since 1996, as they were both in the Big 12 through last season. In 2011 the Aggies hosted Nebraska and swept the two-game conference series.
SCOUTING HOUSTON
The Cougars (9-5) have started 2012 off well after an NCAA Super Regional appearance in 2011. Reina Gaber leads the team with an impressive .535 average in 14 starts. A 2011 national player of the week, Gaber has 23 hits, including three doubles, and 12 runs on the season while going 5-for-5 in stolen base attempts. Jennifer Klinkert is hitting .405 as a starter and owns a team-best five doubles and six walks on the season. Hurler Diedre Outon (3-1) leads the pitching staff with a 1.84 ERA in 38 innings of work. The sophomore has fanned 19 batters and given up just 10 earned runs on 34 hits in 2012.
A&M leads Houston, 15-4 all-time. The Aggies and Cougars last met in 2011 when UH defeated A&M, 3-4, in Houston.
SCOUTING TEXAS STATE
The Bobcats also made the 2011 NCAA Tournament and will round out a challenging lineup at the Texas A&M Invitational. Texas State most recently defeated No. 9 Baylor and Texas Tech last weekend, before falling to No. 6 Texas in a Wednesday doubleheader. Selena Hernandez leads the team with a .273 batting average on 15 hits. Anne Marie Taylor (6-4) has a 2.25 ERA in the circle and was named the Southland Conference Pitcher of the Week after going 3-0 with 17 strikeouts and giving up just one earned run in 23.0 innings last weekend. Taylor allowed just two hits by ninth-ranked Baylor as the Bobcats won with a 1-0 shutout.
The Aggies have won all but 10 of the 67 contests between A&M and Texas State, including the only 2011 game between the two, which A&M won 6-0 in College Station.
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.