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Updated June 3, 2007 3:19 AM

Two and out for Aggies

By ROBERT CESSNA
Eagle Sports Writer

OKLAHOMA CITY - Baylor freshman Courtney Oberg is living her dream, which could lead to a few sleepless nights of reflection by the Texas A&M softball team.

A mammoth three-run homer by the former A&M Consolidated standout helped the Lady Bears to a 7-4 victory over the Aggies at the Women's College World Series on Saturday afternoon before 6,774 fans at ASA Hall of Fame Stadium.

Enlarge photo

AP Photo Texas A&M's Jamie Hinshaw (left) sheds tears Saturday while Lisa Gorzycki (center) and Holly Ridley (right) console each other.

Oberg's homer capped a four-run third inning that served as a bookend to A&M's season.

"We had the one bad inning where we let it get away from us," A&M head coach Jo Evans said. "That was really uncharacteristic for us."

Fourth-seeded A&M (46-14) had bounced back from losses during the College Station Regional and Super Regional, but the Aggies had a tough time maintaining their momentum in their first WCWS appearance in 19 years.

Tennessee All-American Monica Abbott no-hit A&M on Thursday night. Then on Saturday, Baylor scored five runs on two extra-base hits to close out the Aggies' season.

"[Baylor's] hitters really set the tone with their discipline," Evans said.

Baylor's bats had been silent in a 2-1, nine-inning loss to defending national champion Arizona on Thursday. The Wildcats' Taryne Mowatt retired the last 13 Lady Bears in a row, eight of them by strikeout. Baylor had only two hits, though Oberg was robbed of an RBI single that would have broken a 1-1 tie in the fifth when Arizona shortstop Kristie Fox speared a vicious liner.

Oberg and the Lady Bears broke loose against the Aggies. Baylor scored six straight runs - two in the first and four in the third - to wipe away a 1-0 A&M lead that came on the 13th home run of the season by All-American Megan Gibson.

"This team came to play," Baylor head coach Glenn Moore said. "They have always responded when we have had a disappointing loss."

No swing was bigger than Oberg's, the former Lady Tiger who committed to Baylor as a junior at Consol.

"I have family in College Station that did go to A&M," Courtney Oberg said, "but my heart was always at Baylor."

Oberg broke a lot of Aggie hearts with two runners on in the third when she lined the first pitch from Amanda Scarborough over the temporary bleachers in left-center field. The fans seated there turned and watched the ball bounce off the 300-foot permanent fence.

Scarborough, who pitched brilliantly against top-ranked Tennessee, didn't make it out of the third. She caught a break when Tiffany Wesley, who reached after being hit by a pitch, was called out for leaving first base early. But Alex Colyer tripled, and Scarborough was lifted.

"The thing I thought they did really well early on was staying off Amanda's dropball," Evans said. "They made Amanda come up in the strike zone."

Baylor's third inning started with a bloop double by Ashley Monceaux. Brette Reagan sacrificed Monceaux to third base, and Baylor caught a huge break when Scarborough threw the ball away, scoring Monceaux and pushing Reagan to second base.

"I am my own worst enemy when I am out there, and I can hurt myself more than the other teams actually can," said Scarborough, who then walked Chelsi Lake, who had a two-run double in the first.

That brought up the right-handed hitting Oberg, who was 0 for 5 against Scarborough with two strikeouts in two previous games.

"I figured she wasn't going to walk me because good pitchers don't do that, and Amanda is a great pitcher," Oberg said. "I just figured she was going to throw me a strike."

She did, getting the pitch up a bit, and Oberg tattooed her seventh homer of the season.

The 6-1 lead looked safe as Baylor senior right-hander Lisa Ferguson (26-8) needed just 53 pitches in breezing through the first four innings.

WOMEN'S COLLEGE WORLD SERIES OKLAHOMA CITY SATURDAY'S GAMES: Baylor 7, Texas A&M 4; DePaul 3, Arizona State 1; Arizona 3, DePaul 0; Northwestern 7, Baylor 0 SUNDAY'S GAMES: Arizona vs. Washington, noon; Northwestern vs. Tennessee, 2 p.m.

But A&M's offense awoke in the fifth.

"I knew they'd fight back and make a game of it, " Moore said.

Macie Morrow, who was robbed of a two-run homer in the second by right fielder Kirsten Shortridge, beat out a slow roller to second. Joy Davis got an infield hit, then pinch-hitter Holly Ridley singled sharply to right, loading the bases.

Leadoff hitter Sharonda McDonald flew out to shallow left field, but Jamie Hinshaw's two-out, two-run single made it 6-3.

Gibson followed with a hard grounder to Baylor shortstop Maritza Martinez, who made a nice play, one of several defensive gems by the Lady Bears.

Gibson, who relieved Scarborough, retired the first nine batters she faced to give A&M's hitters a chance.

The Aggies got a run closer in the sixth. Scarborough bunted for a single, and a throwing error by third baseman Reagan on Alex Reynolds' hard grounder put runners at second and third with one out.

Morrow's sacrifice fly to center field was flagged down by Miriam Romero 8 feet short of the fence.

Davis, one of three Aggie senior starters playing their last game, had three good swings before flying out to end the inning.

"I love our fight and the way our kids came back," Evans said. "I think we have a lot of confidence in our ability, and our hitters got up expecting to get hits and be aggressive.

"I am the eternal optimist for our team. When [Baylor] got those runs [in the third], I felt we had a lot of innings left in the game. I felt like we were going to come back, and I thought you could see that in our team."

The Lady Bears finally broke through against Gibson for a run in the bottom of the sixth, getting three straight two-out singles, the last by leadoff hitter Monceaux, who was 3 for 4.

"I thought we got Baylor back on their heels a little bit," Evans said. "[But] it was tough when they scored the run in the bottom of the sixth."

Ferguson retired the side in order in the seventh, giving the Big 12 regular-season champions their third straight victory this season over A&M.

"I guess I can say this now, but I was scared to death [facing A&M a third time]," Moore said. "That's a great team.

"The polls haven't always respected this program and our team, and I'm not sure if we'll finish ranked ahead of A&M even now, but I think we've earned it. And I say I was scared to death because I think we're equally matched. You beat a team twice ... I knew we'd have to play very well."

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NOTES - When Baylor beat A&M 5-4 in Waco on May 5 on a passed-ball third strike to Tiffany Wesley for what should have been the second out, Oberg was in the on-deck circle. ... Oberg was born on May 29, 1988, just a few days before A&M made its last WCWS appearance. Oberg's father, Clyde, graduated from Baylor but works at Texas A&M as the assistant procurement and distribution manager with the scientific and food services team. ... Baylor is 40-1 when leading after four innings. ... Sophomore Ridley, who was back in College Station having an appendectomy the last time the two met in Waco, hadn't batted since April 15 and was 7 for 50. "Holly's been wanting an opportunity to get up there and hit," Evans said. "I was really proud of her to be ready. That was a spark for us." ... Center fielder McDonald, right fielder Lisa Gorzycki, catcher Beverly Rowan and pitcher Christina Smith were A&M's other seniors playing their last game along with Davis. ... Moore and Evans both said home-plate umpire Lori Bish had a good strike zone but wasn't calling low strikes. That seemed to hurt Scarborough, who typically utilizes a low screwball and dropball on the inside corners, which Baylor laid off. That's one reason Moore said he didn't turn to freshman Shortridge, who keeps the ball low when she pitches. ... No one had scored in the first inning of the previous seven WCWS games this year. ... It was the third time Scarborough allowed five earned runs in a game this year.