Texas A&M
Monmouth
No. 19 Aggies Power Past Hawks and Bears
Mar 06, 2010 | Softball
March 6, 2010
COLLEGE STATION, Texas - Junior Kelsey Spittler hit a grand slam and the No. 19 Texas A&M softball team pounded out 28 hits and scored 21 runs to power past Monmouth, 10-0, and Northern Colorado, 11-1, in a pair of five-inning run rules on Saturday at the Aggie Softball Complex.
With the support of 1,185 fans, the Aggies closed out their play in the Texas A&M Invitational and improved to 16-5 while the Hawks dropped to 1-3 and the Bears fell to 3-13.
Spittler capped off an already outstanding day at the plate with her first career grand slam against Northern Colorado. She led the Aggie offense with three doubles and eight RBIs on the day.
"This is the most comfortable and confident I've seen Kelsey," said head coach Jo Evans. "She's matured and grown up a lot the past couple years and I know she's really wanted to be a go-to player for us. She stepped up and really hit well all day."
A&M pitchers Rebecca Arbino and Melissa Dumezich shut down their opponents and allowed just three hits apiece in the two victories.
"I'm pleased with the way we came out and played today," Evans said. "We stayed aggressive at the plate and we were committed to being a better team."
Every single Aggie in the lineup crossed the plate in the first inning against Monmouth as A&M exploded for nine runs and 10 hits in the frame.
Spittler doubled to plate senior Macie Morrow and start the scoring. The left fielder from Caldwell, Texas, also hit a bases-clearing double in the inning as the Aggies hit through the lineup. Junior Rhi Kliesing recorded an RBI single, and freshman Bailey Schroeder hit back-to-back, two-run doubles.
A&M added another run in the third off the bat of junior Missy Siegel. Her RBI single to center scored Morrow and made the score 11-0.
Also recording hits in the game were junior Victoria Lehrmann.
Arbino (7-3) picked up the win in the circle after throwing a three-hit shutout. From Clovis, Calif., Arbino struck out five and did not allow a walk. Dara Palms (0-1) gave up seven of 11 runs in the loss.
In addition, almost every Aggie player saw time on the field.
"I'm really pleased to get the players in the game that we did," commented Evans. "They work really hard and they run our team in the dugout. They're fired up and they give everything they've got to make us better in practice and it's nice for them to be rewarded and get out there and play the game. They really settled in and did a nice job."
The Aggies batted through the lineup a second time on the day to begin their game against Northern Colorado. Spittler started with a double and was scored on hard liner to left by Schroeder. Shannon plated freshman Meagan May on a sacrifice fly and sophomore Kelsea Orsak scored two on a single through the right side.
Texas A&M added a fifth run in the second. Morrow led off with a single up the middle and crossed the plate when May hit a double to the wall in left center.
The Aggies put up a six-spot in the top of the fifth, highlighted by Spittler's grand slam. Tovar scored on a wild pitch in the inning and Orsak drove in Schroeder with an RBI single to mark a career-high three-RBI performance and give A&M an 11-0 advantage.
With two outs in the bottom of the inning, Jessie Schoepflin got the Bears on the scoreboard with a solo home run to right.
Dumezich (3-0) picked up her second win of the weekend in the circle after allowing only three hits, one run, two walks and adding two K's. Kelli Henderson (0-5) gave up all 11 runs in the loss.
Senior Alex Reynolds posted the best batting average on the day at .833 (5-for-6). As a team, the Aggies hit .549.
Texas A&M still has seven contests remaining in its 13-game homestand and hosts Texas A&M Corpus Christi in a double-header beginning at 5 p.m. Tuesday at the Aggie Softball Complex.
