Published Thursday, May 26, 2011 12:19 AM
A strong finish has put the Texas A&M softball team in position to make amends for a slow start to the season.
The 16th-seeded Aggies (44-13) will play the top-seeded Arizona State Sun Devils (53-6) in a best-of-3 NCAA super regional at ASU's Farrington Stadium.
Game 1 is set for 9 p.m. Thursday and will be televised on ESPN2 (Ch. 28). Game 2 will be at 8 p.m. Friday on ESPNU with Game 3, if necessary, at 10:30 p.m. Friday on ESPN2.
A&M has won 14 of its last 16 games to be in this position, but if the Aggies had taken care of business the last time they were at Farrington Stadium, their super regional opponent and site might have been a little less formidable.
The Aggies have been fighting an uphill battle since going 2-3 to open the season at the Kajikawa Classic hosted by ASU. A&M lost to 16th-ranked BYU, 14th-ranked Oregon and top-ranked Arizona.
"When we start playing in February, we're playing to host regionals and super regionals," A&M head coach Jo Evans said. "We didn't get that done in February, and now I think our kids are going to understand that. Our youngsters are going to know what we're talking about."
It might not seem fair nor does it make sense to some, but what happens in nonconference in softball, baseball and to a certain degree women's basketball can be more important than what happens in conference.
The Aggies finished third in the Big 12, which is rivaled only by the Pac-10 as the nation's best conference. Yet two teams that finished behind A&M -- Baylor and Oklahoma -- were awarded higher seeds because of what they did early in the season, underscoring what A&M didn't do.
It's not something new.
In 2007, the Aggies finished fourth in the Big 12 and lost in the Big 12 tournament semifinals to Texas Tech -- a team with a losing record. A&M still earned a No. 4 national seed that allowed the Aggies to play at home for regionals and super regionals en route to the Women's College World Series.
Why?
A&M opened that season by winning five games at the Kajikawa Classic. The Aggies beat 20th-ranked Fresno State, fourth-ranked Northwestern, third-ranked UCLA and top-ranked Arizona. A&M went only 3-6 against ranked teams the remainder of the regular season, but that sizzling start left a lasting impression.
This year, A&M won one of its first 10 games against ranked opponents, and that too left a lasting impression. To the Aggies' credit, they finished 8-1 against ranked teams which allowed it to host regionals.
A&M made the most of that opportunity to finish unbeaten at home this season. Going 25-0 at the Aggie Softball Complex helped A&M offset its slow start to a degree, and Evans is hopeful the whole experience will not be lost on her young team, which includes three freshmen and three sophomores in the starting lineup.
"Hopefully, we can get one of those eight [national] seeds next year," Evans said.
In most sports, peaking at the right team means winning late in the season, and A&M is doing that on it's current 10-game winning streak. Now the Aggies will face the nation's No. 1 team, which, by the way, has won 11 straight against A&M.
Regardless of the outcome, the young Aggies will learn this weekend why peaking at the right time in college softball means to start the season, too.
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A&M appeared headed to the Knoxville Regional in Tennessee to start postseason play until the Aggies swept Oklahoma State in the next-to-last series of the regular season. That result helped send OSU to Knoxville where the Cowgirls knocked off the 14th-seeded Lady Vols.
OSU, coached by former A&M assistant Rich Wieligman, caught a break when unseeded Houston knocked off third-seeded Texas. Now unseeded OSU will host Houston on Friday and Saturday for a Women's College World Series berth.
The Big 12 has five teams in super regionals. Fifth seed Missouri plays host to No. 12 Washington. No. 9 Oklahoma will be at No. 8 Arizona and No. 11 Baylor at No. 6 Georgia.
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The Sun Devils are 35-3 at home. ASU had a 23-game winning streak this season and was ranked No. 1 during the regular season for the first time.
"Arizona State is a tough place to play," said LSU veteran head coach Yvette Girouard who lost to A&M in the College Station Regional. "[The Aggies] will have to be on the top of their game."
ASU has won four straight since Stanford snapped its school-record 12-game winning streak in Pac-10 play.
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ASU is led by freshman pitcher Dallas Escobedo who has a 12-game winning streak with her last loss coming on April 15. She is 30-3 with 264 strikeouts in 206 1/3 innings and a 1.32 earned run average. Opponents are hitting .169.
A&M will counter with sophomore right-hander Melissa Dumezich who is 30-8 with 255 strikeouts in 233 2/3 innings with a 1.83 ERA. Opponents are hitting .184.
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ASU is hitting .343 with 78 homers. The Sun Devils have drawn 261 walks and struck out 180 times.
A&M is hitting .284 with 78 homers. The Aggies have drawn 225 walks and struck out 352 times.
ASU's Katelyn Boyd is batting .444. She has 14 doubles, 17 homers and 60 runs batted in along with 19 stolen bases. Annie Lockwood (16 HRs, 64 RBIs), Mandy Urfer (.320, 10 HRs, 47 RBIs) and Sam Parlich (.315, 12 HRs, 40 RBIs) are part of a starting lineup for ASU that doesn't have a batter hitting under .315.
A&M has only a trio of .300 hitters -- Rhiannon Kliesing (.355, 18 HRs, 53 RBIs), Natalie Villarreal (.348, 5 HRs, 29 RBIs) and Meagan May (.316, 13 HRs, 47 RBIs).
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There is some encouraging news for A&M: A pair of Big 12 teams played well at Arizona State.
ASU beat Oklahoma State 1-0 on Feb. 11 as Escobedo allowed two hits, struck out 11 and walked two. ASU edged Oklahoma 4-3 the next day as Escobedo allowed six hits and struck out 11 with no walks.
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ASU and A&M met for the 2008 national title with the Sun Devils sweeping the best-of-3 series 3-0 and 11-0 for the program's first title.
ASU starters Krista Donnenwirth, Lesley Rogers and Ufer played for the Sun Devils in 2008. A&M also returns a trio of starters -- first baseman Kliesing, left fielder Kelsey Spittler and second baseman Villarreal.
Robert Cessna's email address is robert.cessna@theeagle.com.
A&M SOFTBALL
What: Super regionals
Who: No. 16 seed A&M (44-13) at No. 1 Arizona State (53-6)
Where: Tempe, Ariz.
Schedule: Game 1 9 p.m. Thursday; Game 8 p.m. Friday with Game 3, if needed, to follow
TV/Radio: ESPN2, Ch. 28 for Game 1& 3, ESPNU for Game 2/KZNE, 1150 AM
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Source: http://www.aggiesports.com/softball/A-amp-amp-M-softball-team-to-face-No--1-Sun-Devils
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