April 4, 2009
Columbia, Mo.- The 11th-ranked Missouri softball team (33-5, 6-2) relied on the long ball to win back-to-back games over 19th-ranked Texas A&M (23-14, 1-4), managing five home runs including a game two grand slam by sophomore first baseman Marla Schweisberger (Raytown, Mo.). Missouri run ruled the Aggies in both games, sweeping the series with Texas A&M for the first time since 2005 by scores of 8-0 and 9-1.
Stacy Delaney (Freeland, Mich.) started both the first and second game and threw eight strikeouts in seven innings of work. Delaney held the Aggies to two hits in game one and was awarded the win, her eighth of the year and third in Big 12 play.
Right-handed freshman Kristin Nottelmann (Fenton, Mo.) threw the final three innings of game two, striking out two for her ninth win of the campaign and third league victory.
Senior Lindsey Ubrun (Riverside, Calif.) brought game one against the Aggies to a close with her walk off, two run moon shot in the bottom of the fifth inning. With one out on the board, senior Andee Allen (Barnhart, Mo.) reached base on balls bringing Ubrun to bat. The count was full when Ubrun hit her sixth home run of the year, the 22nd of her career, over the wall in right field. The third baseman finished the game 3-for-3, scoring three runs and credited with three RBI. By the end of game two, Ubrun was averaging .667 at the plate.
A&M's pitching staff held the Tigers to five hits in game one, however two were home runs and one, a first pitch double in the bottom of the second by Ubrun.
Missouri extended its lead over Texas A&M in the bottom of the third on catcher Megan Christopher's (Wright City, Mo.) one out, three run home run to right field. The homer was the first of two that Christopher crushed over the course of the day, her second coming as a leadoff knock in the bottom of the third frame in game two. Christopher has hit six home runs over the past 10 games, the first coming March 18, against Western Illinois. To date, Christopher carries a team-high .731 slugging percentage.
Schweisberger blasted the team's first grand slam of the year in the bottom of the second inning of game two. Back-to-back Tiger batters Christopher and redshirt junior Gina Schneider (Liberty, Mo.), reached base on balls with each moving up one base on junior Julie Silver's (Chesterfield, Mo.) one out single to center. Hitting in the three hole, Schweisberger powered her fourth home run of the season on a full count pitch from relief pitcher Rhiannon Kliesing.
Texas A&M scored one run in the top of the fifth to stay alive and avoid an early run rule. Aggie pitcher Rebecca Arbino forced two outs in the bottom of the fifth before Schweisberger reached base on a single to right field. Nottelmann drove in the game winning run with her double to right center.
A total of 804 fans packed the stands at University Field watching their Missouri Tigers take two from the visiting Aggies.
Missouri's midweek opponent for Wednesday, April 8, is Southern Illinois. The Tigers will host the Salukis on University Field beginning at 4:30 p.m. (CT) in the first-ever Strike Out Cancer game. All fans wearing pink will gain free entrance into the game, with donations accepted on behalf of the Susan G. Komen Foundation.
SIU and Missouri S&T, the Tiger's April 15 opponent, mark the last three non-conference games of the campaign. Missouri will play a single game with Southern Illinois and two with the Lady Miners.