March 30, 2003
It looked as if the Mizzou softball team would easily pick up its second win over a top 25 team in the last week on Sunday as the Tigers led No. 20 Texas A&M 5-0 heading into the seventh inning. However, the Aggies put five runs on the board and set the game to extra innings where Missouri scored the game-winning run in the bottom of the tenth inning.
Mizzou (19-13) was in control of the game early on, scoring runs in all but one of the first five innings. The Tigers jumping out to the lead in the second inning when Ashley Hays singled to drive in Jeni Schellert and Daisy Mettlach. Hays finished 2-for-4 on the day with two RBI.
Morgan LeCluyse led off the third inning with her fourth homerun of the season. The homer made it a 3-0 lead and extended LeCluyse's hitting streak to 12 games. In the last 12 games, LeCluyse has a .421 batting average, three homeruns, two triples, one double and a slugging percentage of .789. She is also a perfect 6-for-6 in stolen bases during the streak.
The Tigers manufactured a run in the fourth as Schellert reached on a walked, stole second, advanced to third on a Mettlach single and scored on a pass ball to give MU the 4-0 lead.
Missouri added a fifth run when Rachael McGinnis homered over the left field fence for the second consecutive day. McGinnis has a team-high seven homeruns on the season. McGinnis was then intentionally walked in each of her next two times to the plate.
The Aggies forced the game to extra innings with five runs in the top of the seventh as they sent eleven batters to the plate in the inning. The Tiger pitchers began to struggle as Texas A&M scored the five runs on only on hit. The runs were scored with the help of three walks, two hit batters and one pass ball. Erin Kalka, who started and had held Texas A&M in check for most of the day, was charged with four earned runs in the inning.
Both teams were scoreless in extra innings until the bottom of the tenth. With the bases loaded, Jeni Schellert grounded to shortstop where Crystal Martin threw home to gun down Heather Kunkel. The Aggie catcher, Selena Collins then attempted to throw out Schellert at first, but overthrew first, allowing McGinnis to score the winning run.
Mizzou is now 4-2 in the Big 12 Conference. It will travel out of conference on Wednesday to face Southeast Missouri State in Cape Girardeau, Mo.