The A&M softball team looked much better against Sam Houston State in Wednesday night’s game in Huntsville. The Aggies defeated the Bearkats 4-1, outhitting them 12-4 after falling four times in California last weekend.
“Sam Houston State did a nice job,” head coach Jo Evans said following the game. “Our hitters did a good job of being aggressive. They looked good at the plate and they attacked the ball.”
Junior Mel Dumezich helped herself to her fifth win of the season in the circle by using the long ball offensively. Junior Sydney Shannon, who hit right before Dumezich, also had a big swing to send a ball over the fence to give the Aggies the early lead.
The No. 21 maroon and white never looked back as they put together a good offensive effort, an area in which they have struggled for several games this season.
Aggie softball will play host to Texas State, Houston, and No. 24 Nebraska this weekend at the Texas A&M Invitational.
Texas State (8-9) is struggling to start the season, as it dropped a pair of games on Wednesday in Austin to the Texas Longhorns. Despite the losses, the Bobcats pulled out an upset last weekend against Baylor.
With a record of 9-5, the Houston Cougars bounced back from three straight losses to take their last two games. The Cougars fell from the Top 25 this week, but a team batting average of .353 will make them a tough team to beat.
Reina Gaber is leading the team with a huge .535 batting average and twenty-three hits. Houston pitching will also look to be consistent with Deidre Outon holding a 1.84 ERA in 38 innings of work.
Similar to A&M, Nebraska also went 1-4 at the Cathedral City Classic last weekend. The Huskers, however, defeated a tough Missouri squad to show that they are capable of competing with the best.
Ashley Hagemann paces the team with a 3.72 ERA and eighty strikeouts on the season. Ashley Guile and Taylor Edwards are each hitting .426 and look to be threats offensively.
For the Aggies, sophomore Emily Albus leads the team with a .483 batting average. Dumezich has proved herself as a major run-producer with 18 RBI’s. Junior Meagan May has been silenced by many teams so far this season, as she has been walked an astounding 22 times.
Senior Lindsey Sisk is having a stellar year so far, giving up just sixteen earned runs in 40.1 innings pitched for a 2.78 ERA. Dumezich commands the most time in the circle with a 5-4 record and 3.11 ERA.
“Our team is on the right track right now,” Sisk said. “We definitely have room for improvement which is a good thing because we do not want to peak at the beginning of the season. So far I see great things coming from this team and I am very excited to see what we are capable of doing this season.”
Aggie game times are set for 3 p.m. and 5:15 p.m. on both Friday and Saturday, with the tournament finishing up on Sunday at 12:15 p.m.
“I think the team is really starting to look like a team instead of a group of individuals,” May said. “Even though we lost last weekend we started looking more comfortable and unified and that flowed into our game against Sam Houston. If we can keep playing together and keep the game under control then this should be a great weekend.”