May 18, 2012
Box Score | Photo Gallery 
| Post-Game Press Conference Video
By Dan Ryan
B-CUAthletics.com
COLLEGE STATION, Tex. -- Aggies dig the long ball. National power Texas A&M showed Bethune-Cookman a lot of power in Friday's NCAA softball regional, stroking five homers in the first three innings en route to an 11-0 run-rule victory over the Wildcats before 1,318 at the Aggie Softball Complex.
Megan May hit two homers as the eighth-seeded Aggies, who registered 67 round-trippers during the regular season, sent the Wildcats (30-30) to a 5 p.m EST Saturday elimination game with Texas State, who fell 1-0 to LSU.
May's first shot, a two-run blast in the opening inning, set the tone for the game. The Aggies (40-16) led 3-0 after the first, 6-0 after two and 11-0 entering the fourth.
"We knew coming in that Texas A&M was a powerful offensive team," said B-CU coach Chris Cochran. "They certainly showed that to us today. I actually thought [B-CU pitcher Shanel Tolbert ] threw a pretty good game, Texas A&M was just powerful. "
Tolbert (30-25) struck out the opening batter and got some respect from the Aggie crowd when her change-up froze an Aggie batter, but it was an experience building night for the sophomore.
"I knew today was going to be difficult," said Tolbert, who walked three. "I needed to hit each side of the plate."
Texas A&M (40-16) got a three-hit shutout from Lindsey Sisk. The spot starter only struck out two Wildcats, but was able to get B-CU to hit
Karina Romero had a second-inning infield single for the Wildcats. Calesha Shelley reached on an infield single in the third while Shamaria Engram hit a fifth-inning double. B-CU's defense registered a Aurelia Gamch - Cesley Tafoya - Romero (6-4-3) double play in the fourth. The attention is now turned to Texas State, the Southland Conference champion.
"You have to have a short memory in this tournament," Cochran said. "I'm sure Texas State has cleared their minds of this afternoon's game; Texas A&M and LSU have moved on to the next game and that's what we need to do as well."
