The Texas A&M softball team celebrated the 40th anniversary of its 1982 AIAW National Championship by dismantling Abilene Christian 9-1 on Saturday, April 2, to claim the second of a three-game series.
As a continuation of the dominance A&M showed on Friday, April 1, the Aggies controlled every aspect of a game that would only go through five innings. In the first two games of the series, A&M has now outscored ACU by a total of 27-1 over 10 total innings played.
Senior right-handed pitcher Makinzy Herzog got the start in the circle for the Aggies in what would become her eighth win of the season. The Missouri City native racked up six Ks over five innings and only allowed one run which was scored on a wild pitch in the third. Herzog has found her groove in the circle in her past four starts where she has thrown 27 strikeouts and only allowed eight runs.
“We had a tight zone back there, but I just kept taking my deep breaths and trusted my preparation,” Herzog said. “I threw my pitches the best I could, and I knew my offense was going to come through too, so that helped relax me a little bit. It gives me a lot of comfort knowing that they’re going to score runs, so I can really just relax out there and work on my stuff.”
The Wildcats struggled early defensively, allowing four free bases for A&M. This, along with an early error, allowed A&M to score four early runs in the first, off only two hits.
In the remaining three innings’ at-bats, A&M completely imposed its will offensively. The maroon and white went on to earn runs behind RBIs from senior catcher and utility player Haley Lee and freshman catcher and third baseman Katie Dack, resulting in a 9-1 lead heading into the fifth and a third consecutive win by run-rule for A&M.
A&M coach Jo Evans commended the offense of her team, as the Aggies have scored at least one run in each of the past seven innings played against the Wildcats. This includes the bizarre 14-run fourth inning for A&M on Friday night.
“At the end of the day, it’s about taking care of business. I thought our kids came out and did a really nice job at scoring back-to-back-to-back innings,” Evans said. “I think there was one inning that we didn’t score in today. For us to be going up there and getting multiple runs in those innings, just really takes the wind out of our opponent’s sail.”
A&M is seeming to recover from the mid-season slump where they dropped 12 of 19 games between Feb. 25 and March 26. This is momentum the maroon and white will need to build on with the SEC Tournament only a month away.
The final game of the series against ACU will take place Sunday, April 3 at noon.
