Oklahoma State University Athletics
Softball Drops Two Against No. 7 Texas A&M
April 14, 2005 | Cowgirl Softball
Texas A&M is now in first place in the conference race, improving to 38-3 overall and 9-1 in the Big 12 while
The Aggies came out firing, getting runners on second and third with one out in the opening inning but Marjorie Johnson settled in and retired the next two batters to get the Cowgirls out of an early jam.
OSU was the first to break onto the scoreboard when Stephanie Nicholson touched A&M's Megan Gibson for the second double of the game to get the fourth inning started. Nicholson moved to third on a ground out from Megan Carey then scored on a blooper from Tara Jeffery when the freshman found a hole behind second base to give OSU an early 1-0 lead.
A&M evened things up in the fifth thanks to a pair of miscues by the Cowgirls.
The Cowgirls continued to make things easy on the Aggies in the seventh inning. After reaching on a fielder's choice, McDonald stole second and moved to third on an overthrown ball to get within 60 feet of scoring the winning run. Jana James came through with the timely hit, lacing a shot through the left side to score McDonald and give Texas A&M a 2-1 win.
Johnson tossed the first 5.0 innings, scattering four hits and giving up one run off two walks and two strikeouts. Jessica Hoppock closed out the contest and took the loss, allowing one run off one hit and two walks. Both of A&M's runs were unearned in the contest with the three OSU errors proving to be the difference.
OSU jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the second game when Scott scored on a base hit from Watson. The sophomore reached on an error to lead off the game, the moved to second on a wild pitch. Jeffery earned a free pass to load the bases and Watson followed with the RBI single, but it was all the Cowgirls would get as
James picked up right where she left off for A&M, plating McDonald with an RBI single in the bottom of the frame. The Aggies added to their lead in the second, chasing starter Randi Cook from the game after a two-run long ball from Lindsay Park.
The Cowgirls threatened in the third, loading the bases but nothing would come of it and OSU left the bases loaded for the second time in three innings.
Texas A&M's offense took over in the fourth inning, chasing two more pitchers, Taleesha Conder and Kristen Neil, from the game before Hoppock entered with two outs in the fifth inning.
The Aggies scored two in the fourth then upped their lead to 7-1 with two solo homers in the fifth. The Cowgirls got in on the home run derby in the seventh inning when Nicholson went long for the ninth time this season.
The Cowgirls used four pitchers in the contest. Cook took the loss, allowing three runs off four hits in 1.0 inning. Conder allowed one run and Neil three in relief. Hoppock closed out the game, holding A&M scoreless for the final 2.0 innings.
OSU 000 100 0 – 1 5 3
A&M 000 010 1 – 2 5 0
Johnson, Hoppock (6) and Totte. Gibson and Hebert. WP: Gibson (8-1). LP: Hoppock (12-9). 2B: OSU-Nicholson. 3B: A&M-McDonald. Time-2:01.
OSU 100 000 1 – 2 5 1
A&M 120 220 X – 7 11 1
Cook, Conder (2), Neil (4) and Totte.
