For a moment after UAlbany softball graduate C Maddi Petrella’s first inning two-run home run sailed over the Davis Diamond scoreboard in left field, it looked like the 4-seed Great Danes might have been cooking up an upset over top-seeded Texas A&M.
But it was the Aggies, buoyed by a five-run first inning and a rowdy home crowd, who took a 6-2 win over UAlbany in their first game of the Bryan-College Station Regional on May 17.
“I had no doubt in my mind that our pitchers could get us back into the game,” senior DP Trinity Cannon said. “And I know our bats are hot. We were just really aggressive this game and we just got the job done.”
Petrella’s opening statement gave the UAlbany dugout a shot of confidence early on, and it wasn’t a surprise to the Great Danes.
“That’s something we’ve done all year,” graduate P Wendi Hammond said. “We’ve really built off of the early runs that we’ve scored and I think it helps us settle into the game and just helps us move forward.”
The Aggies weren’t phased. They responded with a five-run first inning of their own that put the game firmly back in the hosts’ hands.
Cannon got things going with a two-run single up the middle that tied things up with one out. Sophomore 1B Amari Harper added an RBI single of her own with the bases loaded on a play that looked like it would go down as a groundout before Harper beat the throw back to first base.
Junior LF Kramer Eschete closed out the scoring in the first inning with a two-run RBI double up the left side to give A&M a 5-2 edge.
“We responded really well,” coach Trisha Ford said. “I thought we came out and put pressure on their defense, which was what our goal was with the lineup changes: putting some speed at the top of the lineup, forcing them to have to play defense. And that’s really why we scored runs, we were able to force their hands.”
By that point, the visiting Great Danes were fairly rattled, UAlbany coach Chris Cannata said.
“That’s your fear going in, that the kids are going to be a little bit in awe of the stadium and nervous, and that’s what happened,” Cannata said. “But I’m proud that they settled down after that. It could have been a disaster. If that continued on it could have been a disaster.”
A&M added the final run to its tally with a sacrifice lineout from senior 2B Rylen Wiggens in the third inning, but the story of the rest of the evening was defensive play.
The Aggies were able to hold UAlbany to just four total hits thanks to strong play from their fielders, including a diving catch from junior RF Allie Enright that prevented the start of a possible Great Dane rally in the third inning.
Next, A&M turns its attention toward a familiar foe: two-seed Texas State, who defeated the Aggies 4-3 in the two schools’ previous meeting on March 20.
“It’s going to be a barnburner,” Ford said. “I think it’s going to be a well-fought game. [senior RHP Jessica] Mullins is a great pitcher, and we have great pitching as well … It’s going to be kind of like a conference series, where you’re very familiar with each other. We’re going to have to one-up them.”
