Texas A&M sophomore Natalie Villarreal pulled everything she could in A&M’s 5-4 victory against Baylor Wednesday at the Aggie Softball Complex.
Villarreal, A&M’s starting second baseman from Frisco, Texas, led the Aggies at the plate against the Lady Bears, going 2-for-4 with four RBIs, and topped the night with the defensive play of the game.
In the top of the seventh inning, with the Aggies leading Baylor 5-4, Villarreal turned a game-ending double play on a weak pop fly, throwing out a Lady Bear runner at second base and ending Baylor’s chance at a late-inning rally.
A&M struck first in the second inning after a passed ball scored junior Alex Reynolds from third base. Villarreal, who leads the team statistically in doubles, batting average and hits, scored the first of her four RBIs later in the inning with a single up the middle to plate two Aggies and give A&M a 3-0 lead.
Baylor answered in the top of the third inning with three runs on four hits. Senior first baseman Alex Colyer recorded a pair of RBIs with a single to right field to tie the game at 3-3.
Both teams remained at three runs until the top of the sixth inning, when sophomore A&M pitcher Rhi Kliesing hit Baylor second baseman Meagan Weldon with the bases loaded to score a Lady Bear runner from third base, giving the Waco squad a one-run lead.
A&M recovered with clutch hitting in the bottom of the inning to take the final lead. Villarreal exploded on an inside pitch that sailed over the right field fence for her second home run of the season. Villarreal sealed the win for the Aggies in the next inning with the double play.
Villarreal said Baylor pitcher freshman Whitney Canion was jamming her inside at the plate, so when her last at-bat came around, she was prepared.
“She kept pitching me inside, which is one of my favorite pitches, but I kept getting jammed,” Villarreal said. “So I talked with [A&M catcher] Erin [Glasco], and before my last at-bat, I was ready. The home run felt really good.”
Canion, who was ranked third in the nation in strikeouts with 303 going into the game, struggled to find the strike zone after the second inning as she allowed seven walks and hit three A&M batters. Canion had ten strikeouts in six innings of work.
Canion walked a batter in every inning after allowing A&M’s first three runs including three in the third inning, which ironically she had three strikeouts in as well.
A&M Head Coach Jo Evans said that Canion’s mistakes were key in the Aggies’ victory.
“The walks and hit-by-pitches she threw were free passes we’ll take any time,” Evans said. “Canion is a pitcher that will get her strikeouts, but we did a good job to stay disciplined at the plate.”
Sophomore A&M pitcher Rhi Kliesing pitched all seven innings for the Aggies, earning her 18th win of the season. She held the Lady Bears to four runs, allowed eight hits, walked two and struck out four.
A&M will play on the road for the first time in five games when it travels to Norman, Okla., to meet the 11th-ranked Oklahoma Sooners this weekend.
Evans said the win against Baylor will help to keep momentum on the road.
“We needed a big game here,” Evans said. “Oklahoma is a tough team, they were picked to win it all in the Big 12, but they’re beatable and this game will help us going into the weekend.”