Texas A&M
Monmouth
No. 21 Aggies Clip Hawks, 5-1
Feb 27, 2009 | Softball
Feb. 27, 2009
COLLEGE STATION, Texas - A three-run home run by senior Holly Ridley highlighted a 5-1 Texas A&M victory over Monmouth on Friday afternoon at the Texas A&M Invitational presented by the District on Luther.
Ridley's sixth round-tripper followed junior Macie Morrow's two-run single and capped the No. 21 Aggies' (10-7) five-run fifth inning at the Aggie Softball Complex.
Freshman Rebecca Arbino (4-3) picked up the win in the circle, allowing just four hits and one unearned run while striking out five.
"I hope Becca feels good about herself," said head coach Jo Evans. "She really got out there and showed us that she's ready to go this weekend."
A&M retired the Hawks in order the first three innings and a hitless, scoreless game was broke open by Monmouth in the top of the fifth. A two-out Aggie error put Chelsea Paprocki on base and she moved to second on a wild pitch. Lauren Sulick then dropped a single into shallow left center to plate Paprocki and get the Hawks out to a 1-0 lead.
The Aggies answered in the bottom of the frame as junior Alex Reynolds led off with a double over the head of the Monmouth right fielder. From Tomball, Texas, Reynolds advanced to third on a fly out by freshman Taryn Broussard before freshman Kelsea Orsak reached base via error and stole second to put two Aggies in scoring position with two outs. Sophomore Natalie Villarreal, who leads the A&M offense, was intentionally walked and the bases were loaded for Morrow who singled up the middle to score two. Ridley followed with a three-run blast to left center to put the Aggies ahead 5-1.
"It was great to see our kids come around and to see Macie get up there in that situation looking for a hit," said Evans. "She looked comfortable and it was good to see her drive the ball. She got all of it.
"Five runs on two outs is a big deal. The more often our team can do that, the more comfortable and confident we are to know we can score with any number of outs."
A&M plays its second game of the day at the Aggie Softball Complex at 6 p.m. against the 10th-ranked Arizona Wildcats. Free live video, audio and live stats are available on AggieAthletics.com.
