The No. 17 Texas A&M softball team begins a seven-game road swing as the Aggies travel to Fayetteville to take on Arkansas in a three game weekend series.
The Aggies have dropped their last two series, away to South Carolina and home to Georgia. Head coach Jo Evans said her team needs to be mentally tougher to withstand setbacks in quality of play.
“We put ourselves in every position to win a ball game – and we were at home – but we just didn’t finish,” Evans said. “We couldn’t take advantage of opportunities like two-out hitting and hitting with runners in scoring position.”
Arkansas has had success at the plate this season, with nine regular starters batting above .300 in the lineup. Senior outfielder Amanda Geile paces the team with a .363 average. Devon Wallace’s .733 slugging percentage is an Arkansas best, with five doubles and a team-high nine home runs. In the circle, the team’s 3.65 ERA is highlighted by six shutouts and 166 strikeouts.
As for the Aggies, freshman pitcher and outfielder Abby Donnell was 7-of-15 and recorded two saves last week, earning SEC freshman of the week honors.
Senior Cassie Tysarczyk said the Aggies have to move their attention away from a tough Georgia series to Arkansas.
“It’s the SEC – no week is a gimmie,” Tysarczyk said. “We’re not in the Big 12 anymore.”
Senior Amber Garza, who is second on the team with six home runs, said it is exciting to still be able to play in new places, despite being on the team for four years.
“I’ve played two years in the Big 12 and two years in the SEC so I’ve visited a lot of schools that a lot of girls haven’t been able to go to,” Garza said.
After this series, the Aggies play against the University of Houston at 6 p.m. Wednesday at Cougar Softball Stadium.