Over two months into the 2026 regular season, the mental and physical toll of Southeastern Conference softball begins to show. Each weekend welcomes a formidable opponent, all of whom are capable of capsizing otherwise-smooth SEC sailing.
Luckily, one day of the week often offers relief to teams looking to regroup: the midweek game. But for No. 11 Texas A&M softball, its Wednesday night outing was anything but that.
“I’m loving coach [Jeff] Harger for scheduling this in the middle of it all,” head coach Trisha Ford said in Tuesday’s press conference. “It’s another great opportunity for us to go on the road against a top RPI team. They’re going to compete … but how lucky are we, in the state of Texas, to be able to go and play in-state, good-quality softball?”
A&M returned to College Station after a successful road trip to Oxford, Mississippi, only to head ninety minutes down the road to Waco for an old-fashioned matchup against former Big 12 rival Baylor on Wednesday, April 15. The Aggies took care of business, dominating the Bears, 10-3.
The Maroon and White quickly took charge of Getterman Stadium, recording four hits and six runs in the first frame alone. Five straight Aggies reached scoring position, serving as the knockout punch from which the Bears never fully recovered.
A&M’s veteran duo kicked things off in the first, as senior third baseman Kennedy Powell knocked a single up the middle and senior second baseman Tallen Edwards followed suit with a left field single of her own.
With a pair of Aggies on base, sophomore right-handed pitcher Cambree Creager made the wise decision of avoiding the longball and walking junior first baseman Mya Perez. But with a batting lineup as deep as A&M’s, Baylor might as well have signed its own eviction notice.
As senior designated player Micaela Wark stepped up to bat, Creager sailed a ball over the head of sophomore catcher Averie Waddell to give Powell the perfect opportunity to score on a passed ball and hand A&M an early one-run lead.
With what was short of a ground out to left field, Wark reached first base thanks to a fielding error by senior shortstop Amber Toven, bringing home Edwards and adding to A&M’s first-inning advantage.
If an early two-run deficit didn’t call for a Baylor pitching change, a left-field RBI double by sophomore C Ariel Kowalewski did.
With no outs, three runs on the board and a pair of Aggies on base, the Bears turned to sophomore RHP Peyton Tanner to limit any further offensive destruction. The Tennessee transfer led Baylor to capture its first out of the inning off an RBI sac fly by sophomore center fielder Kelsey Mathis. But before the Bears’ defense could get off the field, sophomore SS KK Dement added to A&M’s batting prowess.
Dement launched Tanner’s fourth offering over the left field wall to give the Aggies a commanding six-run lead.
“I think that first inning, we’re just really focused,” Ford said. “We’re making sure that we make the pitcher throw strikes. You know, it’s hard in the first inning. As a pitcher, you’re trying to figure out where the strike zone is. I think our hitters continue to do a tremendous job, in that first inning, of making it a nightmare.”
Baylor broke the shutout in the early frames of the game, scoring a trio of runs, including a two-run blast by freshman 3B Kaygen Marshall to no avail.
If the Aggies’ domination was ever in question, appearances from freshman pinch hitter Maddie Sauni and sophomore PH Larisa Perez mediated any objection made by the Bears.
In the fifth, Sauni launched a solo homer deep to center field, marking her third longball of the year and extending A&M’s advantage. The duo secured back-to-back sacrifice hits in the top of the seventh with a pair of RBIs, including a sac fly by Sauni and a ground out by Perez to push the game out of reach.
“It’s just us going to work,” Ford said. “Every series, every game, it’s an opportunity for us to get better. I think that this team has really bought into that, being able to take it one pitch at a time.”
With the victory, the Aggies extended their five-game win streak, pushing their overall record to 31-12 and 7-4 on the road. A&M will return to Davis Diamond for a conference series against No. 14 Mississippi State on Friday, April 17, with first pitch set for 7:30 p.m.
