The No. 20 Texas A&M softball team defeated the No. 9 Kentucky Wildcats 6-3 on Saturday in the second game of a three-game series at the Aggie Softball Complex.
Senior Rachel Fox got the call for the second consecutive day and wasn’t showing any fatigue. Fox gave head coach Jo Evans seven innings of quality work, allowing three runs on four hits. On the other end, freshman Erin Rethlake got the call for the Wildcats and pitched six innings with six earned runs.
The Wildcats (13-5, 0-2 SEC) began the scoring with a groundout at third to bring in the opening run of the game. The Aggies (19-4, 2-0 SEC) — with momentum from last night’s walk-off home run into today’s game — answered with an RBI single from Cali Lanphear to bring in Alex Masek.
The Wildcats answered with a solo home run over the left field wall to take a 2-1 lead. A steal of second base from freshman Kristen Cuyos in the bottom half of the second provided a runner in scoring position for senior Brittany Clopton, who slapped a pitch right above the first baseman’s head to score Cuyos and erase the Wildcat lead.
The Aggies broke the game open in the third when Coach Evans dug into her bag of tricks and brought in pinch-hitter Breanna Dozier with the bases loaded. Dozier found a pitch to hit and looped it out to left field where the left fielder mishandled the ball and rolled all the way to the warning track. By the time the left fielder retrieved the ball, Dozier was at third and the bases were cleared.
Fox was dialed in from that point on, only allowing a Kentucky run in the seventh inning before shutting the door on the Wildcats.
The Aggies go for the three-game sweep of the Wildcats at 12:05 p.m. Sunday at the Aggie Softball Complex.