SPORTS
The Battalion I 4.2.15
3
Fox on the mound
Longhorn transfer takes on
leadership role for Aggie
softball team
By Milkyas Gashaw
" ■ ^ very time Rachel Fox trots
< j out to the circle this season,
’ she seems poised to finish the
M J game.
The Aggies have leaned heavily on
the senior from Sugar Land, Texas this
season, and Fox has not disappointed.
She leads the club with a 13-6 record
and holds the lead in strikeouts with 110
and 127 2/3 innings pitched.
She has pitched two complete games
of eight innings in wins against Penn
State and No. 13 Kentucky. More im
pressively, she pitched another com
plete game of 10 innings in a 4-3 thriller
against South Carolina two weeks ago.
Fox didn’t start her career in Ag-
gieland, as most Aggie softball players
do. Like fellow pitcher Katie Marks, Fox
transferred from the University of Texas
after two years in Austin.
She was primarily used as the team’s
No. 2 pitcher behind Blaire Luna in her
time with the Longhorns. Fox posted a
career record of 32-4 with a 1.72 ERA,
striking out 212 and walking 76 in 243
2/3 innings while holding opposing hit
ters to a .214 batting average. Fox said
Aggie head coach Jo Evans was a reason
for the transfer.
“I firmly believe that Coach Evans
is the best mentor and coach in the
game right now,” Fox said. “She’s one
of those types of people that you know
that she’s going to fight for you and be in
your corner and I really needed someone
like that.”
Fox is known for her positive nature
on the field and can always be seen en
couraging her infield at the Aggie Soft
ball Complex. Fox said she has grown as
a leader in her time in Aggieland.
“As a pitcher, you kind of have to
be that leader,” Fox said. “You control
the entire game. You have the ball on
every single play. It’s important for me
to know that my infielders around me
know that I’m playing for them and it’s
not just me out there chunking the ball
and trying to strike everybody out. It
takes all nine of us trying to get the job
done on defense.”
Junior Cali Lanphear said Fox brings
an enthusiastic demeanor and constant
encouragement to the team.
“She just has a dominant personal
ity and that’s awesome because she’s a
pitcher,” Lanphear said. “She’s a go-
getter in everything she does. I can re
member when she set the tone when she
was transferring in. She needed a lot of
credits in order to get in here and she
took around 21 hours in the summer to
be able to get here and compete. She
began to set the tone early with that even
off of the softball field.”
Evans said she has seen Fox develop as
a player during her tenure in Aggieland.
“I’ve seen her grow by leaps and
bounds,” Evans said. “I think her lead
ership has been really good. I think she’s
grown into that role. She’s also been able
to let her guard down and just have fun.
I think she will leave here a better per
son than when she came. I think this has
been a good fit for her.”
Aggie track hops
to California on
Easter weekend
for invitational
By Seth Stroupe
The Texas A&M
track and field team
head west this weekend
to spend Good Friday in
the Bay Area running in
this year’s Stanford Invi
tational.
The No. 1 Aggies are
fresh off a historic perfor
mance at the Texas Re
lays, they claimed an im
pressive 10 wins and the
men were named Most
Outstanding Team.
“[Our performance
last weekend] may be the
strongest showing any
team has ever had in the
history of the Texas Re
lays,” head track coach
Pat Henry said. “To go
over there and win the
4x100, 4x400, 4x800
and the Distance Med
ley on the men’s side
— nobody’s ever done
that before. On the la
dies’ side we looked real
good too. We got beat by
about a foot by Texas in
the 4x100, we won the
4x200 and we’re just not
healthy enough to run
the 4x400. Overall, the
team did very, very well
in Austin.”
Senior sprinter Deon
Lendore and junior discus
thrower Shelbi Vaughn
earned SEC Athlete of
the Week honors after
their accomplishments at
the Relays. Lendore, last
year’s Bowerman Win
ner, earned his first two
career victories at the
Texas Relay in anchor
ing both the men’s 4x100
and 4x400 meter relay
teams. Lendore helped
the Aggies set a collegiate
leading mark of 38.91
seconds in the sprint relay
and a world leading time
of 3:02.19 in the 4x400.
V aughn dominated
the competition in Aus
tin, as she finished a full
14.5 feet ahead of second
place. Her toss of 201
feet, 8 inches was the
third best mark of her ca
reer. Vaughn is currently
the American leader in
the discus.
“Shebi is just a great
competitor,” Hemy said.
“When she gets in the
ring, she’s trying to be
the absolute best that she
can be ... You know that
about Shelbi every time.
She’s also learning how
to throw the hammer
right now and she’s get
ting better at that all the
time. She’s putting a lot
of effort into what she’s
doing right now. Shelbi
is one of the truly great
athletes at this institution.
She probably has as good
a chance of making the
United States Olympic
team as anybody we’ve
got.”
The Texas Relays in
Austin is the closest thing
the Texas A&M track and
field team has to a home
meet during the outdoor
season, and now the Ag
gies will follow it up with
one of their farthest road
trips on the schedule.
A&M sweeps Stephen F.
Austin in doubleheader
Freshman Kayla Ober looks to advance to third base in the
doubleheader against Stephen F. Austin Wednesday.
By Milkyas Gashaw
The Texas A&M softball team
took both games of the Wednesday
doubleheader against Stephen F. Aus
tin with scores of 3-2 and 6-0.
The No. 23 Aggies (27-9, 7-5 SEC)
got off to a slow start in their first game,
with opposing sophomore Brittany
Lewis hitting a leadoff home mn off
Rachel Fox to start the day.
The Lumbeijacks (9-24, 2-9 South
land) continued their hitting in the
second inning with Lindsey Campbell
hitting a double off the wall, and a hit
above second baseman April Ryan
from Autumn Holloway extended the
Jacks lead to two.
Shortly after, an hour-long lightning
delay halted the game and provided
some time for the Aggies to regroup.
Freshman Tori Vidal es began the
comeback charge for the Aggies with a
solo shot in the third off pitcher Callee
Guffey to cut the lead to 2-1.
The speed of Brittany Clopton
forced a throwing error to first base
off a bunt to bring in Erica Russell for
the game-tying run. A&M completed
its comeback with a sacrifice fly from
Tori Vidal es to seal the victory.
The Aggies began the second game
with junior Katie Marks on the mound
and she was effective, allowing zero
runs in a complete game effort. Fresh
man Kristen Cuyos got the scoring
started with her sixth home run of the
season to jump the Aggies out to a 1-0
lead.
A&M tallied three runs in the third
inning with a solo home mn from Cali
Lanphear, an RBI single from Abby
Donnell and a wild pitch to bring
Donnell home. The shot from Lan
phear was her third home mn in the
last three games.
A&M continued its hot hitting with
a double from Russell and a hit from
freshman Ashley Walters to drive her
in for the fifth mn to extend the Ag
gie lead to 5-0. Donnell continued her
great day at the plate with another RBI
to bring Vidales home for the final mn.
The Aggies are back in action at
home at 6:30 p.m. Friday to open a
three-game series against Georgia
Tech.
.E
Blake Allemand added a home run to
the Aggies record-breaking 13-hit third
inning against Sam FlouSton State.
BASEBALL CONTINUED
Tom leads the team in RBIs (30), batting
average (.387) and has two home runs this
year. Fie is also 10-for-10 when stealing
bases.
Three Aggie hitters have more than 25
RBIs this season, while five others have
more than 15. Mitchell Nau leads the team
in RBIs (27), while Logan Taylor and
Ronnie Gideon both have six home runs
this year. Additionally, every Aggie in the
lineup has hit at least one home run. Nick
Banks has put on a hitting clinic lately, bat
ting .435 with 20 RBIs.
On Thursday, Grayson Long will start
for the Aggies. Long is 5-0 with a 2.50
ERA and 50 strikeouts. Kentucky will send
Zack Brown to the mound. First pitch is
scheduled for 7:05 p.m.
Friday night, the Aggies (28-2, 7-2 SEC)
will send out Kyle Simonds for his second
straight start. Simonds made his first career
start last weekend against Missouri, and had
an impressive debut, working five innings
and allowing only three hits. He will face
Kentucky’s Dustin Beggs. Game time is set
for 7:05 p.m.
Saturday, Matt Kent will get the nod for
A&M. Kent has a 2.78 ERA with a 6-0
record. Kentucky will give Kyle Cody the
start in the 1:05 p.m. game.
The Aggies’ combined record away
from Olsen is 6-1 this season. This is the
first time the Aggie baseball program will
travel to Lexington since becoming a mem
ber of the SEC in 2012.