Eagle Staff Report

LUBBOCK -- Freshman Natalie Villarreal hit a sacrafice fly in the seventh to tie the game, then drew a 13-pitch walk to force in the winning run in the ninth inning as ninth-ranked Texas A&M beat Texas Tech 7-3 at Rocky Johnson Stadium on Friday.

A&M senior Megan Gibson (18-0) threw all nine innings for the Aggies, striking out 16 while giving up two earned runs on five hits and three walks.

Gibson also went 2 for 4 at the plate with a run scored, but it was Villarreal who produced the two biggest RBIs for A&M (30-6, 2-0 Big 12).

Down 3-2 in the top of the seventh, A&M third baseman Jamie Hinshaw led off with a single. Erin Glasco pushed Hinshaw to second with a sacrafice bunt. Glasco also reached base on the play. Holly Ridley then pushed Hinshaw to third and Glasco to second with another sacrafice bunt.

Villarreal followed with a flyball to left field, driving in Hinshaw to tie the score at 3.

Gibson struck out the side in the bottom of the seventh to send the game to extra innings.

A&M couldn't get a runner on base in the top of the eighth, and Gibson struck out three more Tech batters in the bottom half, this time walking one.

In the top of the ninth, Gibson led off with a single, and Hinshaw walked. Glasco laid down a sacrafice bunt, pushing Hinshaw to second and Gibson to third. Ridley fell behind 1-2 in the count but fought back to walk on seven pitches to load the bases with one out.

Villarreal fell behind 1-2 in the count but fouled off two pitches to stay alive against Tech reliever Tye Coats (3-9). Villarreal took a ball then fouled off two more pitches at 2-2. Coats' ninth pitch of the at-bat was a ball to make the count full, and Villarreal fouled off three more pitches before Coats walked her, driving in Gibson for the go-ahead run.

The Aggies jumped on Coats for three insurance runs. Alex Reynolds hit a sacrafice fly to drive in Hinshaw, and Spittler singled up the middle to drive in Ridley and Villarreal, giving A&M a 7-3 lead.

Tech used two singles and a walk to load the bases with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, but Gibson struck out Coats to end the game.

A&M will face Tech (7-23, 0-1) in the second of the two-game series at noon Saturday.