In a season filled with series wins, home run celebrations and plenty of bubbles, the moment that will be burned into every coach, player and fan of No. 15 Texas A&M softball’s mind forever was one of heartbreak.

Arizona State’s redshirt senior shortstop Brooklyn Ulrich fired a walk-off, run-rule-clinching grand slam to secure the Sun Devils’ spot in the Super Regional with a 9-1 win, plunging her trident into the heart of the Aggies.

The immediate postgame was a tale of two teams, one huddle backflipping and dancing, while the Aggies — fittingly dressed in all black — gathered in a teary-eyed circle as the careers of six seniors, including starters third baseman Kennedy Powell, second baseman Tallen Edwards and first baseman Micaela Wark, came to a close. That conversation, head coach Trisha Ford said, was about gratitude.

“I think from the team, they were just really thankful for each other and thankful for everything that people put into this season,” Ford said. “I told them, ‘There’s nothing I’m gonna say that’s gonna make this feel better.’ That’s hard. …It stinks, and there’s no real words right then.”

Powell, whom Ford credited as being one of the leaders of the program, reflected on her proudest memory as an Aggie as she walked off Davis Diamond for a final time.

“I think the way that I fight every time I’m on the field, I’m always competing,” Powell said. “That’s something I wanted to leave behind and kind of just instill in my teammates coming behind me.”

The loss is a mirror from a horror film, showing the same result as 2025’s loss as Regional hosts, where A&M crashed out of the postseason in spectacular fashion to Liberty, making them the first No. 1 seed to do so. Ford talked at length about turning the Regional corner.

“We just have to execute at a higher level,” Ford said. “ … We’ve been through it, we’ve played everybody, we just have to, at the end, play our best game, our best ball. We just gotta keep fighting.”

From the Sun Devils’ first opportunity at the plate, it was clear that the fight came only from the visiting team. With three hits in a row at the top of the order — including an RBI single to center field from junior catcher Smanatha Swan — Arizona State cracked the game open early.

One more hit and a sac fly from junior 1B Katie Chester meant Arizona State doubled their advantage, 2-0, and hit A&M’s starter, junior right-handed pitcher Sidne Peters, out of the game.

The Maroon and White punched back in the top of the second with sophomore left fielder Paislie Allen’s RBI single to plate sophomore center fielder Kelsey Mathis, but the Sun Devils continued their rampage at the plate in the second.

With sophomore left-handed pitcher Kate Munnerlyn now the face in the circle for A&M, Arizona State ripped off four hits in five at-bats to tack on two more to its total. Redshirt senior CF Kaylee Pond ripped a page out of Arizona State football coach Kenny Dillingham’s playbook, using a perfect swim move to evade sophomore C Ariel Kowalewski’s tag attempt at the plate to make it 5-1.

“I thought Peters gave us everything she had in the circle,” Ford said. “She pitched really good yesterday, and I rolled her back out there today. Kate came in, and I don’t know that I’ve seen a second inning like that. … The ball just found the dirt a lot. … Sometimes that’s how it goes.”

Following two walks in the top of the third, Arizona State head coach Megan Bartlett went for the kill by putting her golden-armed ace, senior RHP Kenzie Brown, into the circle.

“Kenzie put herself into the game,” Bartlett said. “I was very good with that. She’s done that one other time this season and got us a big win. When your First-Team All American says, ‘I want the ball,’ you say, ‘Yes, ma’am,’ and pretty much get out of the way.”

The soon-to-be member of the Portland Cascade smothered A&M’s lineup, allowing only a pair of singles and no runs in three innings of work, keeping the Aggies playing catch up before Ulrich’s dagger.

For an A&M team that was largely sophomores and seniors, Ford said that a new group has to take the reins of the team with the upperclassmen experience departing.

“I think the sophomores had a whole year to kind of figure out and hopefully lead and help us,” Ford said. “I think you have [junior designated player Mya Perez] coming back as a senior and you have Sidne Peters coming back as a senior. You’re going to have some pieces that have been through it that I think will help bridge that gap.”

Ford left her team — and the 12th Man — with one final message.

“We’re gonna get over this hump,” Ford said. “I know we’re gonna get over this hump, and we just have to keep working.”