After back-to-back close losses, one of which included a walk-off, the Sunday, March 27 game versus Georgia was just what the doctor ordered for the Texas A&M softball team.
The Aggies salvaged the series with a 16-8 six-inning win over the Lady Bulldogs on Sunday at Jack Turner Stadium in Athens, Ga. The win improves the team’s overall record to 19-12, although it still stands at a subpar 2-7 in conference play.
The offense was led once again by senior first baseman Haley Lee, whose 3 for 5 day at the plate improved her batting average to .483 for the season. Meanwhile, freshman left fielder Katie Dack tallied four RBIs after sending a pitch over the center field wall for a grand slam in the first inning. Senior designated player Makinzy Herzog also added three RBIs while crossing the plate herself three times.
In the circle, freshman starting pitcher Emiley Kennedy lasted one inning after giving up two runs on three hits and two walks. After 1 2-3 innings of work from Herzog, sophomore pitcher Grace Uribe took the win after lasting 3 1-3 innings, giving up two runs on three hits. The A&M pitching staff gave up 12 walks and issued no strikeouts en route to the win.
The maroon and white took an early 2-0 lead in the first inning as Georgia issued two bases-loaded walks to Herzog and junior right fielder Morgan Smith. In the next at-bat, Dack crushed a grand slam to put A&M on top, 6-0. Following a Georgia RBI single, Kennedy issued a bases-loaded walk of her own to make it a 6-2 ballgame by the end of the inning.
The Aggies’ bats stayed hot in the second inning, as Herzog mashed a two-run homer to increase the A&M lead to six once again. But the Lady Bulldogs wouldn’t back down, tacking on four runs in the bottom of the third with two hits and four walks to make the score 8-6.
The Aggies added insurance runs in the fourth and fifth innings with two RBI singles. In the fourth, sophomore third baseman Trinity Cannon poked a base hit through the right side to score Lee from second, with Lee smacking a single of her own to score freshman shortstop Koko Wooley in the fifth.
A two-RBI double for Georgia made it a ballgame once again in the bottom of the fifth, but the Lady Bulldogs left the bases juiced to end the inning with the score at 10-8. The A&M offense would explode for six runs in the top of the sixth, as Herzog scored on an error to get things started. A base hit from Wooley then brought Smith home before freshman second baseman Rylen Wiggins singled to score two unearned runs. Wooley then came around to score on a passed ball before an RBI double from Cannon scored Wiggins.
Uribe sat down the Lady Bulldogs 1-2-3 in the bottom of the frame to give the Aggies the 18-6 run-rule victory.
Next up, A&M will face the University of Houston in a midweek doubleheader on Wednesday, March 30. First pitch of Game 1 is set for 5 p.m. at Cougar Softball Stadium.