No. 13 Texas A&M softball head coach Trisha Ford could hardly have imagined a better start to the Aggies’ series opener against Ole Miss if she tried.
After the Rebels posted five walks in the first two innings, the Maroon and White rode a six-run first inning and three-run second inning to a 10-6 win over Ole Miss on the road in Oxford, Mississippi, on Friday, April 10.
Both squads posted 10 hits for the night, but the Aggies were able to take advantage of the Rebels’ pitching mistakes in the early going to pull ahead.
After back-to-back singles from senior third baseman Kennedy Powell and senior second baseman Tallen Edwards, Ole Miss starter senior right-handed pitcher Kyra Aycock issued a pair of walks, giving A&M a 1-0 lead. After Aycock walked senior designated player Micaela Wark with the bases loaded, sophomore catcher Ariel Kowalewski swiftly made things 2-0 with an RBI single through the left side.
Powell was one of a pair of Aggies to record multiple hits, along with sophomore right fielder Frankie Vrazel.
The Aggies weren’t done taking advantage of Aycock, though, as sophomore center fielder Kelsey Mathis earned a walk on four pitches to give A&M a 3-0 lead with the bases loaded and nobody out. That proved to be the straw that broke the camel’s back for Aycock, as the Rebels turned to junior RHP Lilly Whitten and her 6-0 record this season in hopes of escaping the jam.
Sophomore left fielder Paislie Allen produced another run on her sac fly, before Vrazel’s two-RBI triple had the Aggies thinking about the possibility of a run-rule victory early, up 6-0 before the Rebels were finally able to limit the damage.
After holding Ole Miss scoreless in the first inning, A&M capitalized on back-to-back walks to begin the second inning with a three-run home run from Wark that just stayed fair along the right field line to make things 9-0 before a double play ended the half-inning.
Mic sent that one YARD 💣 pic.twitter.com/mmEKKXbEqr
— Texas A&M Softball (@AggieSoftball) April 11, 2026
Wark led all players with four RBIs in the win.
The Rebels finally found themselves on the scoreboard thanks to an unearned run on a fielding error in the second inning that cut the lead down to 9-1 before senior CF Taylor Malvin added another run on an RBI double to left field.
After A&M left a trio of runners stranded to open the third inning, a solo home run from freshman RF Madi George allowed the hosts to pull one back with the lead at 9-3. Junior LF Laylonna Applin kept the rally going with a leadoff solo shot of her own off the scoreboard in left center to kick off the bottom of the fourth with Ole Miss down 9-4.
A pair of singles in the fourth after Applin’s homer forced Ford to end sophomore RHP Sydney Lessentine’s outing. The starter exited the circle with a final line of 3.2 innings pitched, in which she gave up eight hits and four runs while tallying a trio of strikeouts before being replaced by junior RHP Sidne Peters.
Edwards ended the Rebels’ scoring streak with a sac fly in the fifth inning that put A&M up 10-4, but the Aggies once again left the bases loaded.
The fifth inning also brought another A&M pitching change, as Ford elected to pull Peters after less than an inning of work after she issued a hit-by-pitch and put sophomore left-handed pitcher Kate Munnerlyn in the circle, who immediately gave up a two-run moon shot to George — her second of the night — that cut the visitors’ lead down to 10-6. Ford responded by bringing Peters back in just two batters later.
Peters, who held Ole Miss to just one hit and one run in three innings of work while posting three strikeouts, was awarded the win after denying the Rebels’ comeback hopes to end the game, moving her season record to 11-4.
Next, the Aggies will look to clinch the series win at 2 p.m. on Saturday, April 11, at Ole Miss Softball Stadium in Oxford, Mississippi.
