No. 19 A&M softball played its final game of the three-game series against Mississippi State on Monday, April 10, at Davis Diamond and finished with a 5-1 win to sweep the Bulldogs.
The Aggies finished with five RBIs and nine total hits to rack up their five runs. The Bulldogs’ hits were stuffed by senior RHP Shaylee Ackerman for the first three innings, followed by sophomore LHP Emiley Kennedy for the last four innings.
At the bottom of the first inning, sophomore SS Koko Wooley started the offensive rally with a double to right field. Wooley now has 32 hits on the season and 18 RBIs. Junior 1B Trinity Cannon followed with a single, and a ground out from junior DP Julia Cottrill scored Wooley. Senior RF Morgan Smith produced another single and scored Cannon. The Aggies were up 2-0 with three hits in just the first inning of the game.
In Inning 2, sophomore CF Allie Enright singled to the left side but was left stranded on the bases with her teammates unable to produce any more hits.
Mississippi State snuck in their single run of the game in the top of the third inning during one of Ackerman’s wild pitches that allowed senior RF Paige Cook to score after her double. Junior 3B Rylen Wiggins was left on base in the bottom of the inning after she drew walk number 13 of the season, a selective batter for the Aggies.
The offense hit its second wind in the bottom of the fourth inning with a single from Smith and a walk from freshman PH Riley Valentine. With two runners on base and zero outs, Wooley stepped up for her third at-bat of the evening. She smacked a triple down the right foul line and scored both Smith and Valentine. The 12th Man was on its feet with the score now up 4-1 over the Bulldogs.
“I feel like I have been seeing the ball a lot better,” Wooley said. “I have been fast through the box lately, and this weekend I tried to focus in on being later and hitting the ball the opposite way. That has helped me out, and I was successful tonight.”
The offensive momentum carried into the fifth inning, and Enright racked up an RBI double of her own, prompting the third pitching change from Mississippi State. The insurance run brought the series sweep in sight for the Aggies.
The maroon and white could not adjust to the new pitcher’s movement for the last at-bat but successfully finished 5-1 over Mississippi State and swept the weekend series with three-straight wins, the first program sweep at home since facing off with South Carolina in the 2021 season.
“I am very happy with this weekend,” coach Trisha Ford said. “Beating a team three times in a row, three days in a row is impressive and hard to do no matter what.”
The action will continue at home for a mid-week matchup on Wednesday, April 12, against the Ragin’ Cajuns at 6 p.m., and the Aggies will travel to South Carolina this weekend to face off with the Gamecocks for another three-game series on Friday, April 14.