| Feb. 8, 2005
Contact: Kyle Stephens (210) 458-4907 Roadrunners travel to College Station for Wednesday doubleheader at Texas A&M Complete Release | Live Stats and Audio (aggie.athletics.com)
SAN ANTONIO - The UTSA softball team travels to College Station to take on the Texas A&M Aggies in a non-conference doubleheader on Wednesday, Feb. 9. First pitch is set for 2 p.m. at the Aggie Softball Complex. The Roadrunners (0-3) lost all three games in a season-opening series at Arizona State over the weekend, while the Aggies no-hit North Texas, 8-0, in five innings in their first outing. UTSA Roadrunners (0-3)
at
Texas A&M Aggies (1-0) Wednesday, Feb. 9 • 2 p.m. (DH)
Aggie Softball Complex • College Station, Texas Quick Hits
• Dating back to March 2004, UTSA has won 22 of its last 28 contests.
• Texas A&M leads the all-time series, 20-5.
• UTSA is 32-66-1 versus the Big 12 Conference
• Texas A&M received 64 votes and is the first team not in the USA Today/NFCA Preseason Top 25 Poll
• UTSA senior Krystal Gibson will face her sister Megan, a freshman pitcher/third baseman for the Aggies, for the first time in college
• UTSA led the nation in home runs (101) for the second straight season in 2004 and set an NCAA record with 1.87 home runs per game UTSA vs. Texas A&M Series History
Series Record: Texas A&M leads, 20-5
Last Meeting: Feb. 5, 2003 • Texas A&M W, 9-1 (College Station)
Scouting Texas A&M:
The Aggies are 1-0 on the season after an 8-0 victory over North Texas last Friday. Freshman pitcher Amanda Scarborough hurled a no-hitter in her collegiate debut and senior Jana James went 4-for-4, including two singles, a double and a triple. Texas A&M returns five all-conference players from last year’s 33-22 squad that finished second in the Big 12 (13-3) and advanced to the NCAA Regional in Athens, Ga. Head coach Jo Evans, the 2004 Big 12 Coach of the Year, is in her ninth year at the helm and owns a 286-180-2 record in College Station.
Sibling Rivalry:
UTSA senior first baseman Krystal Gibson will face off against her sister Megan, a freshman pitcher/third baseman for the Aggies, for the first time in Wednesday’s doubleheader. Krystal sent a two-strike pitch way over the right field fence for a two-run, game-tying home run with two outs in the top of the seventh inning in UTSA’s 5-4, eight-inning loss at Arizona State Sunday afternoon. Megan slugged a three-run homer, one A&M head coach Jo Evans says is the farthest home run she’s seen hit at the Aggie Softball Complex, in the Aggies’ 8-0 run-ruling of North Texas.
Last Time Out:
UTSA was swept in a three-game series at Arizona State last weekend in Tempe. In game one, the Sun Devils used four home runs, including three two-run blasts, to run-rule the Roadrunners, 8-0, in six innings. On Saturday, ASU came back from early 2-1 deficit to score a 4-2 win, despite committing three errors and allowing a solo home run by senior Jennifer Davis. In the finale on Sunday, came back from a 3-1 deficit to send the game into extra innings. With two outs in the top of the seventh, junior Jessica Rogers, who homered earlier in the contest, reached on a fielding error by the ASU pitcher and Gibson followed with a two-strike, two-run blast over the right field wall to knot the score at 3-3. UTSA then jumped ahead, 4-3, in the top of the eighth as junior Mel Torres drove in Davis, who was placed on second to start the inning due to the international tiebreaker rule, with a sacrifice fly to left field. The Sun Devils countered in the bottom half of the frame, tying the game on a single to right and plating the winning run on a throwing error in the infield to win the contest, 5-4.
2004 Rewind:
UTSA enjoyed arguably its finest season in school history in 2004, posting a 37-17 record, winning the Southland Conference regular season and tournament titles and advancing to the program’s first-ever NCAA Regional in Waco. The Roadrunners also led the nation in home runs for the second consecutive season with 101, setting an NCAA record with 1.87 home runs per game, as well as posting the best team slugging percentage in the country (.582). UTSA also set NCAA single-game records for home runs (10) and total bases (64) in a 26-1 route at Texas Southern. Eight Roadrunners earned All-SLC mention, including three on the first team (Krystal Gibson - 1B, Jessica Rogers - 3B, Aimee Murray - SS). In addition, Corrie Hill was named SLC Coach of the Year, Murray, Freshman of the Year and Ursula Mares, Tournament MVP. Rogers, who was the toughest batter in the country to strike out (only four in 177 at-bats), also garnered first team all-region honors and was tabbed the 2004 SLC Softball Student-Athlete of the Year. UTSA won 22 of its final 23 games dating back to March 20 before dropping both games at the NCAA Regional in Waco to Illinois, 3-0, and North Carolina, 4-0.
Going, Going, Gone:
Under seventh-year head coach Corrie Hill, UTSA has emerged as one of the top power-hitting programs in the country. The Roadrunners have led the NCAA in home runs per game each of the past two seasons, hitting 1.45 per game (80/55 games) in 2003 and an NCAA-record 1.87 (101/54 games) last year. This year, UTSA has hit three home runs over the first three games. Additionally, UTSA posted the nation’s highest team slugging percentage last season (.582) and set NCAA single-game records for home runs (10) and total bases (64) in a 26-1 win at Texas Southern on April 8.
You Do The Math:
UTSA welcomes back 385 of the 452 hits (85 percent), 269 of the 329 runs (82 percent), 251 of the 310 runs batted in (81 percent) and 79 of the 101 long balls (78 percent) recorded in 2004.
Preseason Polls:
UTSA is the favorite to win the Southland Conference crown again in 2005 in both the head coaches and sports information directors preseason polls. The Roadrunners received all but one first-place vote in both polls. Sam Houston State was the runner-up pick in the coaches poll, while Texas State was the second choice by the SIDs.
All-SLC Accolades:
Seven Roadrunners were named to the 2005 Preseason All-SLC Team, including five on the first team. Seniors Krystal Gibson (1B) and Jennifer Davis (OF), junior Jessica Rogers (3B) and sophomores Aimee Murray (SS) and Ursula Mares (P) all were voted to the first squad, while juniors Amanda Horton (OF) and Jessica Els (C) made the second team.
Tough Slate:
The 2005 schedule is one of the program’s toughest in recent memory, beginning with five road games against opponents that are receiving votes in the USA Today/NFCA Preseason Top 25 Poll. UTSA opened with a three-game set at Arizona State (26 votes) and now faces Texas A&M (64). The Roadrunners also have two games scheduled with No. 15 Texas and No. 18 Nebraska this season. The Fastpitch Express College Classic on Feb. 11-13 features three teams that were in the NCAA Tournament last year — UTSA, Centenary and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.
Head Coach Corrie Hill:
Entering her seventh season at the helm of the UTSA softball program, Corrie Hill has emerged as one of the top offensive minds in fastpitch softball today and has turned the Roadrunners into one of the top programs in the region. In six years in San Antonio, Hill has tutored one All-American in Amanda Michalsky, seven all-region performers and 36 all-conference players, including 12 first-teamers. Hill guided UTSA to its first Southland Conference regular season and tournament titles in 2004, clinching the school’s first NCAA Tournament berth in the process. She was voted the SLC Coach of the Year as the Roadrunners racked up 37 wins and a 20-6 league mark. She now has the distinction of being the only SLC coach to win a league crown as a player (Texas-Arlington in 1989) and coach. UTSA also has taken over as the winningest program in conference history with a .583 winning percentage (189-135). Hill, who needs just three wins to become the school’s all-time winningest coach, has averaged 30 wins per season in her six years at UTSA and needs just 21 victories to reach 200 with the Roadrunners.
Up Next:
The Roadrunners host the Fastpitch Express College Classic on Friday-Sunday, Feb. 11-13, at Roadrunner Field. UTSA welcomes Centenary, North Texas, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and UTEP to town for the three-day tournament.
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