Cowgirls Swept by Texas A&M
Stillwater, Okla. — Texas A&M’s Rhiannon Kliesing hit a pair of home runs, a three-run homer in the first game and a two-run shot in the second contest, as the 21st-ranked Aggies swept Oklahoma State’s 11th-ranked softball team 3-1 and 2-1 here Saturday afternoon in Big 12 Conference action.
In game one, the Cowgirls took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second on a sacrifice fly by senior Sam Heinlein. Tamara Brown led off the inning with a double which fell in shallow left centerfield between four Aggie fielders and no one covering second base. Senior Megan Castle moved Brown over to third on a sacrifice bunt, and she scored on the sac fly by Heinlein into right field.
Texas A&M responded in the top of the third. With one out, leadoff hitter Lauren Schwirtlich walked and two batters later, Meagan May hit a drive up the middle. Kliesing followed with a three-run home run over the fence in right centerfield. It was all the Aggies needed as hurler Melissa Dumezich allowed just one base runner over the final five innings.
Cowgirl senior hurler Anna Whiddon took the loss, dropping to 21-7 despite striking out 11 Aggie hitters.
The second contest looked similar to the first. Both teams were held scoreless through the first three innings. May led off the top of the fourth with a well-hit ball through the legs of Cowgirl third-baseman Mariah Gearhart. Kliesing then hit a homer just over the right-field fence, her 11th of the season, giving A&M a 2-0 lead.
In the bottom half of the frame, Heinlein led off the inning with her second base hit of the game just inside the leftfield line. Sammy Jo Diffendaffer took over as a pinch runner and quickly stole second. With two outs, Gearhart drove the ball to centerfield, scoring Diffendaffer and cutting the lead in half, 2-1. That was all the Cowgirls could muster, despite getting runners on base in both the fifth and sixth innings.
Cowgirl freshman Kat Espinosa fell to 19-5 on the season despite 13 strikeouts. Dumezich threw every pitch for Texas A&M, improving to 16-1 on the season.
Oklahoma State (43-13 overall, 12-6 Big 12) ties Texas A&M (41-13, 12-6) for third place in the Big 12 standings, but will serve as the No. 4 seed in the Big 12 Championship. The Cowgirls will play No. 5-seed Missouri (43-10, 10-7) on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. on the alternate field at /Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City.
Updated 05-09-2010
READER COMMENTS
