The No. 22 Texas A&M softball team continued its undefeated record against the Prairie View A&M Panthers with an 8-0 win — complete with a home run and eight RBIs — at Davis Diamond on Wednesday.
With the victory, the Aggies secure a 5-1 overall season record and extend their win streak to two games. The Panthers move to a 3-2 record and a two-game losing streak after losing to Alabama State University 11-3 during the last game of the Southern University Tournament.
Freshman catcher Morgan Smith was the standout player for A&M. Smith began the bottom of the first inning with a leadoff home run that put the Aggies on the scoreboard and earned Smith her first career homer.
A&M head coach Jo Evans said she admires the way Smith approaches her at-bats, and although the home run was unexpected, she was excited to see Smith had that power in her.
“[Smith is] a high IQ kind of kid and knows what she is doing at the plate, makes adjustments and really learns from one pitch to the next,” Evans said. “Sometimes you don’t see that in a freshman. They can get a little bit ahead of themselves, but she doesn’t.”
Smith completed the game with two RBIs, a home run and two runs. Junior outfielder Kelbi Fortenberry led the offense with three runs, one RBI and three base hits.
The Aggies, who have not completed a full seven-inning game once this season, due to run rule, took the lead early with two runs in both the first and second inning. Junior pitcher Kendall Potts pitched a 1-2-3 inning to close out the first and got out of a bases-loaded situation to close out the second.
Along with Smith’s homer, A&M earned a 4-0 lead from a fly ball to center by sophomore catcher and third baseman Dani Elder and two RBI singles by Fortenberry and freshman infielder Baylee Klingler.
A&M finished the game off with a triple down right field by sophomore infielder Ashlynn Walls, bringing home two Aggies on base. The last two runs came from the fly ball to left field by Smith and a bases-loaded walk by Walls. The fourth and fifth innings went scoreless, with Potts securing the win on the mound.
Evans said she was pleased with Potts’ performance against Prairie View, though there is still a lot to learn about the pitcher, who transferred from Baylor this season.
“I think that [Potts] got comfortable as the game went on,” Evans said. “When she missed, she didn’t miss by much, which I was happy about. She didn’t miss over the plate. I think overall it was a good outing for her and a good start.”
The Aggies will take on Liberty and McNeese State to kick off the Texas A&M Invitational on Friday. The first game against Liberty will start at 3 p.m. and will be immediately followed by McNeese at 5:15 p.m. at Davis Diamond.
A&M will play Liberty again on Saturday, followed by a matchup with Rutgers at 3 p.m.
The Invitational will wrap up on Sunday with a second game against McNeese State at 12:15 p.m. All games will be televised on the SEC Network.