No. 21 Texas A&M softball dropped Game 3 of the three-game series to No. 3 Tennessee 9-2 on Sunday, April 2. With the closing of the rubber match, the Aggies lost to the Lady Vols after a long seven innings at Davis Diamond, marked by 49 total at-bats and 293 pitches thrown from both teams.
Tennessee applied pressure in the batter’s box by crowding the plate and leaning into pitches to fill the bases with runners, while A&M struggled to adjust to the pitch movement. The maroon and white played clean defense during the first two innings, then suffered from three fielding errors throughout the rest of the game, allowing for the tough 9-2 loss.
Sophomore LHP Emiley Kennedy had a rough start in the circle and hit three of her eight total batters, and the Lady Vols were quickly up by two runs in the first inning. Despite a rough defensive start, the Aggies answered successfully with three hits and put two runs of their own on the board. Junior 1B Trinity Cannon singled to the centerfield fence and was followed by another single from freshman DP Aiyana Coleman and junior 3B Rylen Wiggens.
The maroon and white adjusted to a three-up, three-down defense in the top of the second inning with no runs or hits from Tennessee. Although, A&M could not score any runs either and left one runner on base in the bottom of the second inning.
The 2-2 tie remained throughout the third inning with zero hits from A&M or Tennessee.
The Lady Vols took the momentum back in the top of the fourth inning with one hit and an RBI. Kennedy originally sent the scoring runner to the bases with another dead ball.
“I thought we did a lot of good things today,” coach Trisha Ford said. “We battled through some adversity. Their game plan was to crowd the plate and get hit by pitches, and we didn’t make our adjustments. We had our chances. We know this.”
A&M struggled to answer offensively in the bottom of the fourth inning, leaving another runner stranded on the bases, a missed opportunity to even the 3-2 score.
Senior LHP Madison Preston relieved Kennedy in the top of the fifth inning and struggled to throw past the crowded plate as well. The bases were quickly loaded after Preston walked a batter, hit another one and allowed a single after her own fielding error. Sophomore RHP Emily Leavitt promptly came in for Preston. The Lady Vols put three more runs on the board with a base-clearing double to right field. Wiggins made a throwing error across the field to first base, and Tennessee scored another run on the passed ball, followed by another RBI. The Aggies were still unable to answer offensively in the bottom of the fifth inning and left two more runners on base. A&M was down 8-2 after the five-run inning.
Senior RHP Shaylee Ackerman stepped into the circle as the fourth pitcher for the game in the top of the sixth inning. The bases were loaded after Ackerman hit her first batter, walked the next and Tennessee singled to leftfield. Another single pushed the third base runner across home plate with the score now 9-2.
The seventh inning concluded with no hits or runs from either team, and A&M received the 9-2 loss in Game 3 and the rubber match of the three-game series to No. 3 Tennessee.
“It’s a game of momentum,” Ford said. “It’s just something you have to learn. We had some innings where I feel we came in with the momentum, and then she just went 1-2-3 … We have to make her throw more than four pitches in an at-bat. We’re going to get better. We have to start doing those little things in order to capitalize on more opportunities.”
A&M softball is back in action on Saturday, April 8, at Davis Diamond for another three-game series against Mississippi State University at 7:00 p.m.