After Tuesday’s game was postponed due to poor weather, the No. 20 Texas A&M softball team played a doubleheader against the Sam Houston State Bearkats on Wednesday.
Following a struggle through the first game of the series, edging out the Bearkats, 5-3, on the strength of a late-inning home run by senior Crystal Martin, the Aggies regrouped to dismantle Sam Houston State in the nightcap 11-0, in a run-rule shortened affair.
“We were a little tight for the first game,” said Texas A&M Head Coach Joe Evans. “But it shows a lot of poise that we didn’t press and come out and feel bad about ourselves (after the first game), and that we turned around and got it done.”
The day started with the Aggies jumping out to an early lead in the first inning of game one, scoring two runs in the bottom half of the inning. But, the lead was short-lived as the Bearkats came back in the second to tie the score with a two-run homerun off the bat of Melissa Cosgrove.
The two teams exchanged single runs through the remainder of the game until the bottom of the sixth when Martin’s home run sailed over the left field wall, giving the Aggies the lead that they would not relinquish. Martin’s game-winning hit mirrored her play last week when she was named Big 12 Player of the Week.
“I think we played really well (in the first game),” said Sam Houston State Head Coach Bob Brock, “We gave them all they could handle. Nobody likes to get behind the home team on a home run like that, but I thought we fought hard.”
The momentum carried over into the second game for the Aggies. After getting an early lead once again, and playing effective defense through the first three innings, the Aggie bats finally came alive. In the bottom half of the third inning, the Aggies sent eleven batters to the plate, scoring seven runs on five hits and putting the game out of the reach of the Bearkats. The game was ended after four innings via the mercy rule.
“In the second game of the doubleheader we’ve been having a little trouble,” Brock said.
The hard time for Sam Houston State was largely a result of A&M junior Jessica Slataper’s pitching. Slataper pitched a perfect game in the four-inning contest.
“We were a little flat in the first game,” Slataper said. “I needed to come out and throw strikes, but (scoring 11 runs) makes you breath a little easier.”