Sooners Fall to No. 5 A&M, 4-2

April 12, 2008

Texas A&M 4, OU 2

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
Oklahoma	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	2	4	2
Texas A&M	4	0	0	0	0	0	x	4	7	0

Pitching	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO
W - Gibson (24-0)	7	4	2	2	3	11
L - Mathis (22-5)	4	4	4	4	4	3

Batting Leaders	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	TB
OU - Vandever	2	0	1	2	0	1
OU - Ogden	3	1	2	0	0	2

Sooner Softball Central

2008 OU Softball Media Guide

COLLEGE STATION, Texas - The No. 7 Oklahoma softball lost its first Big 12 game of the season as the Sooners fell to No. 5 Texas A&M, 4-2, Saturday afternoon in front of 1,723 fans at the Aggie Softball Complex. The Aggies used a huge four-run first inning to take the lead in the Big 12 race.

The Sooners fell to 35-10 and 8-1 in the Big 12 while Texas A&M pushed its mark to 38-6 and a perfect 10-0 mark in the conference.

In a battle of the Big 12's top pitchers, Texas A&M senior pitcher came out on top as the All-American pushed her perfect record to 24-0. Gibson threw the complete game and gave up two earned runs on four while striking out 11 Sooners.

OU starter D.J. Mathis took the loss and fell to 22-5 on the year after giving up four earned runs on four hits in four complete innings. Mathis gave up all her hits and runs in the first frame, but also walked four while striking out three. S

enior pitcher Jadyn Smith came in for relief of Mathis in the final two frames and was solid as she only gave up three hits and didn't allow a run, keeping the Sooners in the game.

Offensively, the Sooners registered four hits to the Aggies' seven. Lindsey Vandever was the lone Sooner to drive in any runs as she recorded two RBI with a single in the sixth. Susan Ogden recorded two of the squad's hits while Wendy Trott was the only other Sooner to notch a hit.

The Sooners had opportunities in the top of the first as Amber Flores led off the game with a walk and an out later, Ogden recorded an infield single. However, OU wasn't able to take advantage with two runners on and one out as the next two batters were retired to end the top of the first.

Texas A&M took the momentum in the bottom of the first as Macie Morrow led off with a single down the right field line, and was sacrifice bunted over to second for the first out of the frame. Next, Megan Gibson doubled in what seemed to be the game changer. It looked as if it was going to be an easy out as her ball popped up to second baseman Traci Dickenson, but she lost it in the sun and the wind, resulting in a double for Gibson.

The Aggies continued to rally after that play as cleanup hitter Jamie Hinshaw came through and ripped a two-RBI single to right field as Texas A&M took the early 2-0 lead. Next, Holly Ridley was hit by a pitch and Alex Reynolds walked to load the bases with one out. The next batter popped up, but eight-hole hitter Jami Lobpries came through with a two-RBI double to extend the Aggie lead to 4-0 before the inning ended with a groundout.

Once again OU had base runners in the second as Vandever led off and was hit by a pitch. Next, Trott singled. However, Vandever was thrown out at third on Jessica Legendre's fielder's choice bunt and Iver McDonald, pinch running for Trott, was picked off at second on the next play. A pitch later, Haley Anderson struck out to end the top of the second.

TAMU's Gibson kept the OU offense in check as she struck out five of the six batters she retired in the fourth and the fifth innings.

Mathis didn't give up another hit after the first frame, but was replaced by Smith starting the bottom of the fifth. The senior was solid as she retired three of the four batters she faced.

TAMU's Gibson kept OU offense in check as she struck out five of the six batters she retired in the fourth and the fifth innings.

The Oklahoma offense rallied in the top of the sixth as Long led off with a walk and Ogden followed with a bloop single to left and OU loaded the bases as Dani Dobbs stepped to the plate. The rookie struck out for the first out of the frame, but Vandever cut TAMU's lead with her two-run single off the left field wall. The Sooners couldn't plate any more runs as Trott and Legendre were both retired to end the frame.

The Aggies led off the bottom of the sixth with back-to-back bunt singles and Morrow recorded a single up the middle to load the bases with no outs. Smith got the first out of the frame with a groundout back to her and she got the force at home. The senior pitcher remained calm with the bases loaded as she retired the next two batters and escaped without giving up a run.

The Sooners trailed 4-2 heading into the top of the seventh with one last chance to score. Huey led off the frame, but was retired with a groundout to second. Flores followed with a fly out to left as Long stepped to the plate but struck out to end the game.

The two teams will meet in another top-10 showdown on Sunday with a 12 p.m. meeting that will conclude the series.