The Texas A&M softball team lost the first two games of its weekend series, but redeemed itself Sunday with a morale-boosting 11-5 victory over the Alabama Crimson Tide.
A&M won Sunday after getting out of a bases-loaded jam in the first inning with a force out to second base. A two-run blast from junior Cali Lanphear broke open the scoring for the Aggies and put them ahead 2-0. Alabama answered in the bottom half of the third inning with two runs to tie the game.
The seesaw affair continued in the fourth inning when sophomore Abby Donnell stepped to the plate with the bases loaded and delivered a single to drive in Ashley Walters to take back the Aggie lead. At the conclusion of the inning, the Aggies plated four runs on five hits and forced Alabama head coach Patrick Murphy to go into his bullpen early.
Indicative of this entire series, the Tide answered with three runs of its own in the bottom of the fourth and cut the lead to 6-5 after an RBI double and a two RBI single.
The Aggies continued their offensive onslaught with a second home run from Lanphear on the day, this time being a three-run to extend the lead to 9-5. A throwing error in the seventh after an Erica Russell double brought in two more Aggies to seal the 11-5 victory.
Alabama (25-8, 8-4 SEC) took the first two games to win the series. It scored early and often on Friday, punishing the Aggie pitchers all night en route to a 13-0 thumping. The Aggie hitters didn’t fare much better at the plate, with the only offensive rally coming in the fifth inning from a walk from sophomore April Ryan and a single from junior Alex Masek. Those runners were stranded after a strikeout from Erica Russell and a groundout from Brittany Clopton, ending the game.
Head coach Jo Evans said her club lacked execution.
“It was a tough night for us,” Evans said. “Too many walks, too many errors, just never gave ourselves a chance to be in the game. Alabama took advantage of every opportunity we gave them.”
The Aggies (25-9, 7-5 SEC) seemed to recover on Saturday, getting off to a quick three-run lead in the first inning, only to see the Tide muster a sixth-inning comeback off reliever Rachel Fox to get the victory.
The Aggies come back home for a doubleheader with Stephen F. Austin on Wednesday. The first game is scheduled for 4 p.m.
