The Texas A&M softball team heads to Boca Raton, Florida Friday to compete in the Florida Atlantic University Parents’ Weekend Tournament still without two of it’s middle starting middle infielders.
In the second game of the Aggie Invitational last weekend, junior shortstop Macie Morrow was struck in the face with a foul ball, fracturing bones in her cheeks and nose.
According to A&M Head Coach Jo Evans, Morrow met with doctors and will not be accompanying the team in the upcoming tournament.
“They still don’t know if they will have to do any surgeries yet,” Evans said. “They’re waiting for the swelling to go down, so she won’t be able to make it this weekend.”
Sophomore second baseman Natalie Villarreal injured her hip flexer earlier this month after a collision at first base with a runner. Evans said that she has deep bruising that limits running and cutting.
“Our trainers are cautious, they don’t want to send her back only to aggravate the injury again,” Evans said. “She’s improving, but it’s still a fifty-fifty whether she’ll play or not.”
Despite losing two of its starters, the Aggies went 3-1 in the games without Morrow or Villarreal in the Aggie Invitational.
Sophomore outfielder Bailey Schroeder got the starting nod in the absence of her injured teammates and batted .428 at the plate for the tournament, knocking her first home run in A&M’s loss to Steven F. Austin.
“I thought Bailey looked great, I really liked her approach at the plate,” Evans said. “She’s a great team player and she did a great job.”
The Aggies will face four team in Florida this weekend, including Purdue (11-5), Rutgers (6-7), Florida Atlantic University (13-12), Liberty University (5-12), and Bethune Cookman University (6-19).
Of the five teams, A&M has only played against Florida Atlantic and Rutgers in the past.
Freshman pitcher Rebecca Arbino, who recorded two more wins in her two starts in the Aggie Invitational, said the team is excited about carrying on its winning ways in Boca Raton.
“Florida is going to be fun,” Arbino said. “We get a chance to play some really good teams. Anybody can beat anyone on any day, so we’re prepared for some competition.”
Some of that competition in Florida will be against Arbino’s former highschool teammate, Simone Ceasar, who plays for Bethune Cookman. Arbino said she is looking forward to meeting Ceasar on the field.
A&M, now ranked No. 18 in the nation, has won 13 of its last 16 games, but Arbino said the team is taking its competition very seriously still.
“Any team can be a tough team to beat,” Arbino said. “We have to look at every game as if we’re playing the best team we’ve ever faced.”