Aggie softball team hopes to build on good of 2011

The 2011 season had a rough start and tough finish for the Texas A&M softball team, but what happened in-between was pretty special and bodes well for this season.

The 17th-ranked Aggies, who will open the 2012 season Friday at the Kajikawa Classic in Tempe, Ariz., return eight starters and both starting pitchers from a 44-15 team that lost to eventual national champion Arizona State in the NCAA super regionals. A&M was in position to win the opener of the best-of-3 series against ASU, but a bad-hop two-out, two-run single in the bottom of the seventh gave the Wildcats a 3-2 victory, and the won the next game 4-2 to advance to the Women's College World Series.

It was a tough ending after A&M won its last 10 of 11 Big 12 games to finish third and earn the right to host an NCAA regional, then beating LSU to advance to super regionals.

"I thought it was rewarding," A&M head coach Jo Evans said. "We weren't projected to do what we did. I thought our kids rebounded well from having injuries, especially to Meagan [May] and how our other kids picked up the slack."

Last year, the Aggies lost three of their first four games.

The slow start coincided with All-American May needing a month to round into shape as the catcher rehabilitated from several surgeries after flipping her Toyota SUV four times in late July. May, who hit a Big 12 record 24 home runs as a freshman to go with 62 runs batted in, started last season 1 for 14 with one RBI. She recovered to hit .311 with 14 homers and 49 RBIs even though she suffered a finger injury March 23 that she didn't return from until April 22.

May has had a strong offseason, and the four newcomers from a year ago who helped A&M go unbeaten at home for the first time in school history figure to be much improved, giving the Aggies reason to be optimistic.

"We had so many athletic kids last year who were freshmen, impact-type players," Evans said. "It was challenging because not all of them were going to play, and we had to define their roles, so it took us a long time to settle into our lineup. This year, it's more defined as we start the season, and that makes it a lot easier."

Those sophomores include third baseman Amber Garza (.291, 10 home runs, 48 RBIs), right fielder Cassie Tysarczyk (.230, 7 HRs, 17 RBIs) and catcher-first baseman Nicole Morgan (.214, 8 HRs, 24 RBIs). Morgan started 43 games last season which allowed May the option of being the designated player. Morgan has had a strong preseason with the bat and will open at first base.

A&M has five incoming freshmen, but none have been able to earn a starting spot.

"That shows you how locked in that sophomore class is," Evans said.

A&M is extremely strong up the middle led by second-team All-America pitcher Mel Dumezich, who went 30-10 last year with a 1.92 earned run average. The junior is complemented by senior Lindsey Sisk (14-5, 2.01 ERA) who had to redshirt in 2010 because she cut a tendon in her finger, then suffered a season-ending knee injury when she returned.

"[Sisk] has had a lot of tough luck," Evans said. "She's really playing this season with a lot more confidence. I think she's really going to contribute on the mound and in the field."

Junior shortstop Brittany Walker and senior second baseman Natalie Villarreal formed a bond as the 2011 season unfolded. Walker (.279) transferred from Florida while Villarreal returned after missing the 2010 season because of academics to be named the Big 12's Defensive Player of the Year for the second time. Villarreal also hit .335 with 34 walks. Fleet-footed center fielder Kelsea Orsak is a four-year starter who hit .260 last season -- 43 points higher than the previous year.

Orsak and Dumezich are team leaders who will have to pick up for the loss of first baseman Rhiannon Kliesing and left fielder Kelsey Spittler, both four-year starters. Garza and May are also take-charge players, Evans said.

Transfer utility player Jenna Stark has also shown signs of being a team leader, Evans said. The sophomore led Georgetown in hitting last season at .310.

"We'll rely on her a lot even if she is not in the every day lineup," Evans said.

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NOTES -- A&M added a third home tournament to this season's schedule, and the Big 12 moved to three-game series instead of two with Nebraska leaving to the Big Ten. The new format will prepare the Aggies for the Southeastern Conference, which also uses three-game weekend series. The advantage to a three-game series is that teams relying on one pitcher are hampered, but the Friday-Sunday scheduling forces players to miss more class time, Evans said. It also cuts down on the midweek nonconference games. ... A&M's series with Texas and Baylor will be split as is the case in baseball. Baylor will come to A&M twice while the Aggies will go to UT twice. ... Evans doesn't expect a cold shoulder from the Big 12 coaches in A&M's swan season. "I've never known them not to be respectful of our program," Evans said. "I think they know how much we have loved playing in the Big 12. And they know the decisions that were made were well beyond the softball coaches' decisions. Now the fans might be different, but not the coaches or players." Evans said since they are waiting on the SEC softball schedule for 2013 she hasn't called Baylor or Texas to see if they would be interested in playing in the future. ... Junior Sydney Shannon and Sisk are competing for the starting spot in left field. ... A&M has three freshmen pitchers vying for time in the circle: Lauren Ainsley, Kayla Klein and Sara Mireles. ... Kliesing is now a student assistant. ... Former North Carolina pitcher Danielle Spaulding is A&M's volunteer pitching coach. She replaces former A&M All-American Megan Gibson who was hired as an assistant at Texas-San Antonio. ... A&M will play five games in Arizona before returning for its home opener Wednesday against Sam Houston State.