Tough Inning Gives Aggies 0-4 Loss

Saturday, March 31

Stillwater, Okla.

4:00 PM

Texas A&M

24-10, 4-2

Oklahoma State

17-14, 2-4

Texas A&M

Oklahoma State

Mar 31, 2012 | Softball

Box Score

By: Texas A&M Athletics

STILLWATER, Okla. - The 15^th-ranked Texas A&M softball team (24-10, 4-2 Big 12) dropped a 4-0 game to Oklahoma State (17-14, 2-4 Big 12) Saturday in the second contest of the three-game conference series at Cowgirl Stadium.

"I wasn't pleased at all with our hitters," head coach Jo Evans said. "I thought we had a really poor approach at the plate. We got a lot of the same pitches that we could sit on and we didn't take care of business."

A four-run sixth inning gave the Cowgirls a 4-0 lead that they carried through the final out for the victory over the Aggies. The teams are now tied in the series at one game each.

The Aggies put a runner on the bags in five different innings and got as far as third base three times, but couldn't capitalize on the chances.

Sophomore Emily Albus got as far as third base in the top of the first, reaching on a two-base throwing error and taking third on a wild pitch. Sophomore Cassie Tysarczyk drew a walk and the pair attempted a double steal but Albus was thrown out on her way home for the final out.

Albus nearly came through again for the Aggies in the top of the third. With senior Natalie Villarreal on second, the sophomore poked a single into shallow left field. Villarreal rounded third on the hit but was thrown out by the left fielder on her way home to end the half-inning.

In the fourth junior Meagan May led the frame with a walk and was replaced at first by sophomore Kaydee Rayburn. The pinch runner advanced to second on a Tysarczyk sacrifice bunt but three straight outs kept Rayburn from scoring.

May reached again in the sixth, sending a single through the left side. The base hit was fruitless, though, and the teams remained locked in a 0-0 draw.

In the bottom of the sixth, the Aggies struggled to contain the OSU offense. A third-strike wild pitch with one out put Sammi Jo Diffendaffer on first before a pair of base hits sent her home for the 1-0 lead. A double to right-center field scored the 2-0 run and a single up the middle by pinch hitter Amy Graham earned two RBI as the Cowgirls rose to a 4-0 lead.

"That strikeout is just a killer," Evans said. "It's a game of inches and Meagan May did her best to knock the ball down and throw the kid out at first. It's a shame that we have an out there and that ends up being the second out if we make that play and then it's probably a different story. [OSU] got a little momentum in there. They were exactly in the spot in the lineup that they wanted to be. They rely on [Tamara] Brown and [Julie] Ward and [Chelsea] Garcia, and to have them coming up in that situation really made a difference for them and those kids stepped up and made an adjustment at the plate."

The Aggies worked to rally in the top of the seventh but didn't get far enough. Junior Mel Dumezich led off with a double pounded down the left field line. A fly out in center field gave the first baseman time to tag and run to third before sophomore Nicole Morgan drew a walk to join Dumezich on the bags. Freshman Brittany Clopton entered to run for Morgan and went to second on a groundout, but Clopton and Dumezich were stranded in scoring position as OSU took off with a 4-0 victory.

Dumezich (16-7) suffered the loss for the Aggies, giving up four earned runs on four hit while walking one and striking out seven in 5 1/3 innings pitched. OSU's Simone Freeman (6-5) took the win, throwing 6 1/3 innings and giving up no runs on three hits while walking four and striking one. Kat Espinosa (2) threw 2/3 innings for her second save of the season.

"[Freeman] doesn't throw real hard," Evans said. "She just hits her spots and mixes up speeds. We get four walks, we've got to be able to do something with those walks. We just didn't make adjustments. Early in the game, we were trying to hit changeups with less than two strikes which is not smart on our part. We're supposed to be more disciplined than that. We got some better at bats toward the end but we've got to make adjustments a lot sooner than that."

The Aggies and Cowgirls are tied at one game each in the three-game series. The teams will face off in the series finale tomorrow at noon to determine a winner.

"We're going to have to shake this one off," Evans said. "We need to be better at the plate. It's as simple as that. You've got to go up there with some confidence and we've really been driving the ball and swinging the bat well and today I thought we were tentative. I expect us to be a lot better than that. Their pitcher did a good job. She kept us off balance and in-and-out. I'll give credit where credit is due and she did a nice job. I'll also say that I didn't think our kids really showed up today and competed at the plate."

Tomorrow's game will be broadcast on Sports Radio 1150 AM. To learn more about Texas A&M softball, log on to AggieAthletics.com or follow @AggieSoftball on Twitter.