Aggie softball team getting two key players back to bolster lineup

Last year, the Texas A&M softball team overcame the loss of second baseman Natalie Villarreal and pitcher/outfielder Lindsey Sisk to reach the championship of the Baton Rouge Regional. How good can the Aggies be with both back along with several key additions?

Villarreal was academically ineligible last season. Sisk, a transfer from Arizona, was in the running to be the opening-game pitcher when the junior cut the tendon in her nonthrowing hand preparing food, ending her season.

A&M recovered nicely without them for a 44-16 season, making the NCAA tournament for the ninth straight time. A&M upset host LSU in regionals but couldn't produce enough offense to get past Louisiana-Lafayette.

A&M scored only five runs in its last five games with only three extra-base hits among its last 20 -- all homers by Meagan May who was a second-team All-American catcher as a freshman.

"We just have a lot more talent and a lot more depth than we had last year," said A&M head coach Jo Evans who is starting her 15th year in Aggieland. "This is a deep roster. Sometimes you have a lot of kids, but you can't really play them. This a good freshman class, and we've got some kids who we can plug in. We're a lot deeper in our offensive lineup for sure."

Villarreal is a big boost to the offense and defense. Villarreal led A&M in hitting as a sophomore batting leadoff. She also was the Big 12's Defensive Player of the Year even though she's a rare left-handed fielding second baseman.

"It's really the most challenging position on the infield, and she just makes it look easy," Evans said.

Villarreal had only eight errors in 194 chances two years ago, helping the Aggies field at a .971 clip.

"Her return is huge," Evans said. "Anybody who knows our program knows she makes a huge impact. We couldn't be more excited -- not that she's just back in our lineup, but that she's back in school and doing well. She's grown a lot as a person and a player."

Villarreal will team up with incoming shortstop Brittany Walker, who transferred from Florida. Walker will replace four-year starter Macie Morrow.

"We really feel good about [Walker]," Evans said. "She is somebody that I recruited during her high school years [at Tomball]. She had a visit scheduled to A&M, but went to Florida first and committed while there."

Walker has the same quick instinctive first step as Villarreal.

"She'll lay out for every ball," Evans said. "She's not afraid to get dirty. I think people are going to be really excited about our combination up the middle."

A solid keystone combination should make A&M's pitching better.

Sisk steps in to replace Rebecca Arbino who transferred to San Diego State. Arbino, who is from Clovis, Calif., was 31-18 in two seasons with the Aggies. The right-hander tossed a two-hitter in a 1-0 victory over Texas on April 7 but ended the season by losing four of the last five decisions.

A&M finished the season strong in the circle behind freshman right-hander Melissa Dumezich who was 19-3 with a 1.96 earned run average. Dumezich started the last eight games.

"She picked up where she left off," Evans said. "She was great for us at the end of the season. She beat Missouri at our place after we got hammered by them. And then going to LSU and beating them on their home field ... I mean, I don't know of a kid more competitive than Mel."

Sisk was 23-8 over 36 starts in two seasons at Arizona. She had a team-best 1.62 earned run average in 2008. She had a 14-strikeout effort against Stanford as a sophomore in Game 3 of the Palo Alto Super Regional.

"We'll ride those two," Evans said. "But Mel can throw a lot because she's so smooth and mechanically sound. She can handle a lot. She's very athletic. That's what really helps when you have a kid like that with a lot of endurance."

Arbino's exit leaves the staff with little depth. Senior Rhiannon Kliesing threw only 63 innings last year.

"I planned on having Arbino, and that would have been a great staff right there," Evans said. "Pitching is a question mark in terms of how much depth we have, but in terms of having two starters, I'm really pleased with them."

Evans doesn't have a No. 1 right now, saying Dumezich and Sisk will share duties as the 21st-ranked Aggies start the 2011 season Friday at the Kajikawa Classic in Tempe, Ariz.

"I'm not hedging," Evans said. "I honestly don't know how the No. 1 starter is. If you look at what Dumezich did last year, she's at least proven she can do it, but Sisk proved at Arizona she can win big games."

Sisk throws harder, while Dumezich relies on movement and changing speeds.

The best thing both have is May as their catcher. She batted .405 with 62 runs batted in and 51 walks. Her 24 homers were a school and Big 12 record.

"How can I ask her to get better?" Evans said. "That would be like, 'OK, bat .500 instead of .400?' She can't get a lot better. She has things she can work on, and she's been working on them."

The toughest thing for May has been recovering from a July auto accident. She's had several surgeries since her Toyota SUV flipped four times and left her with 6 square inches of skin missing from her forehead.

"She's 100 percent [recovered] from the surgeries," Evans said. "She's not in the shape she was a year ago at this time. She just has to get enough reps to get her timing down and get herself in shape. But I think a month into the season, she'll be there physically."

A&M expects a big senior season from two-time All-Big 12 player Kliesing who batted .365 last year with 11 homers and 51 RBIs. She complemented May well by hitting 100 points higher than her sophomore season. The third-leading hitter from a year ago, third baseman Alex Reynolds, is gone. Freshmen Amber Garza and Nicole Morgan are battling at third base with Morgan also a catcher which will allow May to be the designated player at times.

Garza bats left-handed and Morgan bats right-handed.

"Nicole is a power hitter," Evans said. "She's just big and strong. She's by far our strongest kid. I think she'll have to adjust to the pitching, like all the freshmen."

Dumezich, who was forced to play every game last season when Villarreal didn't return, accounted herself well at the plate by batting .252 with six homers and 33 RBIs. She played a lot at second base.

Sisk, meanwhile, is expected to play outfield this season

"Now this year, because of all our depth, they are really going to have to fight for their [other] position," Evans said. "Last year, had Sisk been healthy, she probably would have been in our every day defensive and offensive lineup. Well, now there's a lot of competition."

Villarreal's return moves freshman Emily Albus from Brenham into the outfield competition that includes left fielder Kelsey Spittler and center fielder Kelsea Orsak. Spittler and Orsak started every game last season. Lauren Schwirtlich and Sydney Shannon, a pair of sophomores who combined for 99 starts as freshmen, are battling in right field. The left-handed hitting Schwirtlich, who played second base, batted leadoff down the stretch.

"Everyone of our kids who are returning have someone breathing down their neck," Evans said. "We have a lot of different people we can plug into this lineup."

That wasn't the case last season when a lack of depth forced A&M to have seven players start at least 58 games even though only two of them batted higher than .304.

Freshmen infielder Teran Tyler and first baseman/outfielder Cassie Tysarczyk also are challenging for playing time.

"We just need to stay healthy on the mound," Evans said. "You always worry about injuries. If we stay healthy on the mound, I feel good about our season."

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NOTES -- Florida coach Tim Walton signed a release that allowed Walker to play immediately for the Aggies. Evans did the same for Arbino, but San Diego State has announced she will redshirt. ... A&M batted .279 last year, which was seventh in the 10-team Big 12. Its 2.59 ERA was sixth, well ahead of Baylor's 3.01 which ranked seventh. ... A&M was picked fourth in the Big 12 behind Oklahoma, Missouri and Texas.

TEXAS A&M SOFTBALL

Season opener: Friday at Tempe, Ariz., vs. Cal State Fullerton and No. 14 Oregon.

Last year's record: 44-16 (12-6 in the Big 12, third)

Returning starters: C Meagan May (.405 BA, 24 HRs, 62 RBIs); 1B-P Rhiannon Kliesing (.365 BA, 11 HRs, 51 RBIs & 6-3, 4.48 ERA); P-2B Mel Dumezich (19-3, 1.96 ERA & .252 BA, 6 HRs, 33 RBIs); 2B Natalie Villarreal (*.333 BA, 3 HRs, 22 RBIs); INF-OF Lauren Schwirtlich (.248 BA, 8 RBIs); OF Sydney Shannon (.198 BA, 5 HRs, 18 RBIs); OF Kelsea Orsak (.217 BA, 2 HRs, 21 RBIs); OF Kelsey Spittler (.281 BA, 6 HRs, 38 RBIs)

*2009 statistics