The No. 10 Texas A&M softball team took on an unexpected doubleheader against No. 22 Mississippi State Bulldogs on Saturday after their game on Friday got rained out at Nusz Park in Starkville. A&M took away game one with a 3-1 win but fell to the Bulldogs 4-3 in the second game after going three extra innings.
A&M started off the game early in the first with single to right by Ashley Walters, bringing in teammate Keeli Milligan. The game would pick up again in the fourth when both teams each added one run to the board. Sophomore outfielder, Blake-Ann Fritsch ran home off of a RBI fielder’s choice after going in to pinch run for Walters. The Bulldogs answered with an RBI of their own and put up their first run of the game.
A&M senior and starting pitcher, Trinity Harrington led the Aggies on defense and finished with her 11th win of the season. Harrington allowed only one run and six hits in the 6.2 innings she pitched until she was relived by Payton McBride in the bottom of the seventh.
McBride continued this strong defense and got the Aggies out of a bases loaded situation with two outs on the board. With this play, McBride closed out the game and secured the Aggies with the first win of the series.
Head Coach, Jo Evans said the pitching done by Harrington and McBride in this game looked good and led to good defense by the entire team in their 3-1 win.
“I thought Trinity [Harrington] and Payton [McBride] looked really good.” Evans said. “Payton came in a tough spot and she gets a routine fly ball to center to end the game and get the save. I was really pleased to see us score early and play great defense. It’s a big deal to come in and get that first win, especially in the conditions we were playing in.”
The two teams continued to battle through 10 innings in the second game of the doubleheader after tying it up 3-3 at the top of the fifth. Freshman pitcher, Kayla Poynter led the Aggies through seven innings after relieving Samantha Show at the bottom of the third.
Mississippi State took over the game early in the third due to several wild pitches and walks by starting A&M pitcher, Samantha Show. Here, the Bulldogs advanced by three runs before getting closed out by Show and Poynter.
Evans was not pleased with the three runs and believed the runs costed the Aggies a second win.
“It is a tough loss. I look at it as we gave up three runs in the third and we shouldn’t have given up any.” Evans said. “I wasn’t happy at all with the way we didn’t take care of the ball in that inning. We gave up three runs, but we are better than that.”
A&M answered back at the top of the fourth with two runs by Show and Kaitlyn Alderink. Junior outfielder, Keeli Milligan started the scoring run with a single RBI to shortstop, bringing home Show to move the score to 3-1. Alderink was next to score after Sarah Hudek was walked and caused bases to be loaded once again.
With the score now at 3-2, a big stop for the Aggies came in the bottom of the fourth. Milligan made things happen for A&M once again when she robbed Mississippi State’s Mia Davidson of a home run deep in left field. This ended the inning and bounced the Aggies into the fifth inning where they added another run to the board.
After going five innings with no runs on either side, the game entered the tenth. The Aggies would soon call a time out at the bottom of the tenth with two Bulldogs at second and third with only one recorded out.
With a 3-2 count at the plate, Mississippi State junior outfielder, Kat Moore was granted a walk to load the bases for the Bulldogs. Poynter put up two outs on the board, which brought out junior Bulldog, Taylor Kelly to pinch hit for Bevia Robinson. Kelly inched closer to landing on base when she came to a 3-1 count. She was then walked by Poynter a pitch later and brought home her teammate Calyn Adams who gave Mississippi State the point they needed to close out the game at 4-3.
The Aggies will face Mississippi State again tomorrow to conclude the three-game series. The first pitch is set to begin at 2 p.m. on SEC Network.