March 24, 2010
COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Redshirt senior Jen Yee went 2-for-3 with a home run and three RBI and freshman Hope Rush tossed a six-hit shutout as the No. 12/9 Georgia Tech Softball team (26-5) beat No. 19/17 Texas A&M (27-7), 4-0, Wednesday night at the Aggie Softball Stadium. The win snapped Texas A&M’s 11-game winning streak.
Yee homered on the second pitch of the game, her 18th of the season, and added a two-run single in the second inning as the Jackets jumped out to an early 4-0 lead. Rush (14-3) threw a career-high 142 pitches as she limited the Aggies to six hits for her fifth shutout of the season and second straight against a ranked team. Rush had four walks and seven strikeouts.
Texas A&M starter Rebecca Arbino (15-4) lost for the first time in her last 10 games as she was charged with four earned runs in just 1.1 innings. Arbino had allowed just two runs in her last nine outings, all wins. Playing in front of several dozen family and friends from nearby Hutto, Texas, sophomore Kelsi Weseman went 3-for-4 with a double.
Yee got it going early for the Yellow Jackets as she homered on the second pitch of the game by Arbino to dead center field. It was Yee’s team-high 18th home run of the season. In the bottom of the first inning Rush got into a bit of a jam with a pair of two-out walks, but she got a ground ball to get out of it.
In the second inning, the Yellow Jackets erupted for three runs to take a 4-0 lead and knock Arbino out of the game. Weseman got it going with a double to the gap in right-center field and later went to third on a wild pitch. After sophomore Jessica Sinclair worked a one-out walk, junior Kristen Adkins made it a 2-0 game with a RBI double off the fence in center. Later in the inning, Yee made it a 4-0 game with a two-run single up the middle which knocked Arbino out.
Melissa Dumezich came in with runners on second and third with just one out, but got out of the jam without any further damage. She did her job holding Tech off the scoreboard the rest of the game, but Rush did not allow any runs.
In the bottom of the second inning, Rush got into a bases loaded jam with two outs but got Kelsey Spittler to ground out and end the inning.
After hitting a batter with one out in the third, Rush settled down and retired the next eight straight until a leadoff single in the sixth inning. Then in the bottom of the seventh the Aggies had a big threat. A double and a single gave Texas A&M runners at the corners and nobody out. After getting the first out on a line drive to Yee at second base, Rush walked Meagan May to load the bases with one out. Rush did not give in, however. She struck out Rhiannon Kliesing for the innings’ second out and then got Alex Reynolds to ground out and end the game.
The Yellow Jackets now return home to host Maryland this weekend in the ACC home opener. Georgia Tech and Maryland will play a doubleheader at Mewborn Field on Saturday at 1 p.m. and then close the series out Sunday with a 1 p.m. single game. Live video, audio and stats will be available at www.RamblinWreck.com.
