April 22, 2006
The Missouri softball team (20-21, 4-7) fell to No. 15 Texas A&M (31-13, 10-4), 4-2, in College Station, Texas despite notching nine hits throughout the course of the seven inning game.
Texas A&M scored all four of its runs in the bottom of the first frame but was held hitless by sophomore pitcher Jen Bruck (St. Peters, Mo.) for the remainder of the game. Two home runs by leadoff batter Jamie Hinshaw and five-hole hitter Holly Ridley added to A&M's strong first inning showing. Only three of the Aggie's four runs were earned, with Amanda Scarborough's run marked unearned after reaching first on a fielding error by Missouri rightfielder Amanda Jo White (Tallmadge, Ohio). The afternoon game marked White's first appearance in right field this season.
Cutting the four-run lead in half, Missouri's bats warmed in the top of the third inning as the Tiger's scored two runs on three hits and two Aggie errors. The last time the Tiger's managed more than five hits in a game came in Missouri's Big 12 series opener against 15th-ranked Oklahoma. In that game, Missouri recorded a season-high 15 hits.
Bruck led off the inning with a single through the left side to get things started for the Tigers, advancing to second on a wild pitch by A&M ace Megan Gibson. Next up for Missouri, White reached first on a fielding error by shortstop Ridley and took second on a throwing error by Gibson, while Bruck advanced home scoring Mizzou's first run of the game. Redshirt sophomore Micaela Minner (Sanger, Texas) was credited with her 38th RBI of the season after driving in White with a first pitch single through the right side. Cleanup hitter and designated player Amanda Renth (Mascoutah, Ill.) notched Missouri's third hit of the game, a single to left field, but was left on base on three straight Tiger strikeouts. Renth was 2-for-3 on the day hitting a single through the right side in the fifth frame.
Missouri and Texas A&M will play game two of the Big 12 series Sunday, April 23, at Noon in the Aggie Softball Complex.