After a week in Hawaii, the No. 21 Texas A&M softball team is coming back to the mainland with a 4-1 record at the Chevron Spring Fling Tournament.
The Aggies’ only loss came at the hands of No. 1 California on the first day of action. Cal pitcher Jolene Henderson kept the A&M bats quiet, striking out eleven and giving up just one hit to sophomore Emily Albus.
In the circle for the Aggies, junior Mel Dumezich gave up three earned runs on six walks and six hits.
A&M quickly rebounded, as it turned around to shutout Marist, 5-0. The Aggies jumped out to a quick lead after a Cassie Tysarczyk home run pushed two runs across the plate. Sophomores Taran Tyler and Amber Garza pitched in a double and a triple to eventually score two more runs and go ahead 4-0, which would be enough to hold on.
Day two slated the Aggies against Winthrop, as A&M defeated them handily 8-2. Three illegal pitches from the Winthrop pitcher gave A&M the lead in the first inning.
Several more hits and solid pitching from freshman Kayla Klein allowed the Aggies to pick up their second win of the tournament.
The Aggies’ biggest win of the tournament came against host team No. 18 Hawaii on Friday. It was also a big day for Dumezich, who broke her career strikeout record with 14 in the game.
“I think that was definitely Mel’s best start of the year,” Head Coach Jo Evans said. “And Mel and [catcher] Meagan [May] did a really good job of mixing pitches and planes and Mel was ahead for most of the game. I thought she did a really nice job of controlling the at bats.”
The home team scored early in the first after loading the bases with only one hit. An RBI walk sent the Rainbow Wahine runner across home for the first run of the game.
The Aggies struggled until the fifth inning, when senior Kelsea Orsak singled to get on base. Sophomore Emily Albus then chopped a hit to get on before May brought both runners around. Pinch runner Kaydee Rayburn also scored on a double from Dumezich.
Those runs would be enough for the Aggies, as they held off the Rainbow Wahine to win their third of the week.
A&M left Hawaii with a bang, as it finished the tournament with a 14-2 run rule victory over Marist in five innings.
Freshman Lauren Ainsley picked up the win in her first career start in the circle. She gave up only two runs on two hits with eight strikeouts.
The Aggies strung together fifteen hits, including a grand slam from May, who had five RBI’s in the game. Dumezich added three RBI’s of her own, while Tysarczyk and Tyler each added a pair.
“I think we played very well this weekend,” senior Lindsey Sisk said. “We are really coming together as a team and it was a good start right before conference.”
A&M will return to College Station to host No. 12 Missouri on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday in its first conference games this season.