Staff and Wire Report
OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. -- Texas A&M's sparkling play to end the regular season didn't carry over into the Big 12 softball tournament as the Baylor Lady Bears grabbed a 5-4 victory over the Aggies on Saturday at ASA Hall of Fame Stadium.
Meagan Weldon's two-out, bases-loaded bloop single to left field in the bottom of the seventh inning allowed the Lady Bears (37-19) to end a six-game losing streak in Big 12 tournament play and deny the Aggies a chance to defend their title.
"I got a little jammed, but it fell in," said Weldon, who swung at the first pitch.
Despite the loss, A&M (31-20) is expected to receive an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament, which begins next weekend. The 64-team field will be announced at 9 p.m. Sunday on ESPNU.
The Aggies used solid pitching, timely hitting and sound defense to beat Texas and Baylor last weekend to end Big 12 league play at 8-9.
A&M had problems with all three phases Saturday against Baylor.
A&M freshman right-hander Rebecca Arbino, who was coming off a pair of four-hitters, was touched for 11 hits. She didn't strike out a batter and walked four, three of which came in the last inning and set up Weldon's game-winning hit.
A&M was held to three hits by Baylor freshman left-hander Whitney Canion (24-15), who struck out eight and walked four.
The Aggies scored three runs to erase a 1-0 BU lead in the third, with the Lady Bears committing two errors. Kelsey Spittler doubled and Kelsea Orsak walked to start the inning. Natalie Villarreal popped up trying to bunt.
Macie Morrow hit a grounder to Baylor third baseman Brette Reagan, whose throw to first was wide, scoring Spittler and Orsak. Morrow came around to score on the play when BU right fielder Megan Turk made a second throwing error on the play.
Baylor answered with a three-run fifth, aided by a botched rundown.
Tiffany Wesley reached on an infield single and Reagan doubled with one out. Colyer doubled both runners in to tie the game. Courtney Oberg reached on a fielder's choice, pushing Colyer to third base. Sydney Wilson ran for Oberg and helped the Lady Bears steal the go-ahead run. Wilson got in a rundown, which allowed Colyer to score.
"We just didn't execute defensively today and we can do better than that," A&M head coach Jo Evans said. "The great thing about the mistakes we made is that they are mistakes we're not going to make again. They were uncharacteristic of us."
A&M tied the game in the top of the seventh on Alex Reynolds' home run.
"Alex did a great job and wants to be up there in the clutch situation," Evans said. "It was great to see her drive the ball like that."
It was Reynolds' fourth homer of the season.
"I was just saying 'get on base, get on base', just give us a chance to get a runner on so we can keep the game going longer," Reynolds said. "I wasn't even thinking about a home run."
Baylor, which lost both regular-season games to the Aggies, took a 1-0 lead in the first on Oberg's RBI single. Oberg, a junior, starred at A&M Consolidated.
Saturday's other Big 12 quarterfinal scores were Missouri 10, Oklahoma State 0; Oklahoma 3, Iowa State 0; Texas 10, Nebraska 5. The semifinal scores late Saturday night were Missouri 1, Baylor 0; and Oklahoma 6, Texas 2.
Missouri and Oklahoma will meet for the title at 11:30 a.m. Sunday (FSN, Ch. 25).
*
Villarreal is league's defensive MVP: Texas A&M left-handed second baseman Natalie Villarreal was named the conference's Defensive Most Valuable Player.
Sophomore first baseman/pitcher Rhiannon Kliesing and senior catcher Erin Glasco made the league's 20-player first team.
Villarreal is the first Aggies and first sophomore to win Defensive Player of the Year honors in the league's history. She had a .957 fielding percentage with 86 putouts and 91 assists in the regular season. She was involved in seven double plays.
Villarreal, who batted a team-leading .350, earned second-team all-league honors.
Glasco batted .316 in Big 12 play and was second in the league with a .491 overall on-base percentage and a .527 on-base percentage in league games.
Kliesing had eight home runs and 34 RBIs in the regular season. In league play, she batted .289 with 10 RBIs and a .511 slugging percentage.
Senior right fielder Holly Ridley and junior outfielder Bailey Schroeder earned second-team All-Academic honors. Ridley is a communications major with a 3.019 grade-point average. Schroeder is majoring in community health and has a 3.105 GPA.
Baylor freshman outfielder Kayce Walker, who is from Franklin, was a unanimous first-team pick. Walker suffered a season-ending knee injury late last month.
A&M SOFTBALL
* Saturday's game: Baylor 5, Texas A&M 4
* Records: A&M (31-20), Baylor (37-19)
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