No. 15 seed Texas A&M softball team will enter their 29 straight NCAA championship appearance starting this Friday at Davis Diamond in College Station.
The College Station Regional features Baylor, McNeese, and Prairie View A&M.
Baylor head coach Glenn Moore said the atmosphere in A&M’s new stadium is exciting and his team is ready to get down to business.
“We’re an excited team to be in the College Station regional,” Moore said. “We’re a team that’s had to work through a lot of adversity, and we were excited to hear that we were going somewhere and not far from home. It’s a great venue, number one to play in, and it’s a nice new stadium, so it’s exciting…We know we’ve got a tough road ahead of us, but it’s a good regional. Some teams we’re familiar with, and we are just ready to play ball. We are excited to be here.”
The regional will begin on Friday when Baylor takes on the McNeese at 3:30 p.m. The matchup between A&M and the Prairie View A&M will immediately follow at 6 p.m.
Laurisa Hernandez, junior infielder for Prairie View, reflected on the team’s six consecutive elimination games that gave them a spot in the regional. Hernandez said that they need to build off this energy and continue to grow as they prepare to face A&M.
“Going off of those games, you just build off of your energy and goals. We reached one goal, but we want to keep going to the next one. Our goal is just to continue to grow,” Hernandez explained. “Right now, we’re unstoppable. That’s what I see us as. There is no way that anyone can stop us with as much potential and talent that we have. Building off of winning those six straight elimination games is going to help us keep going.”
On the other side of the tournament, McNeese head coach James Landreneau credits their three games against Baylor this season for the team’s preparedness going into Friday.
“Anytime you play somebody, it goes both ways. Coach Moore and his staff are going to prepare for us just as well. I think it is about us executing right now. Both teams are going to be really prepared for each other. We know each other really well, and it is about who is going to be the best team on that particular day,” Landreneau said.
The winner of Baylor versus McNeese will play the winner of A&M versus Prairie View on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. While the other two teams take part in the first elimination game at 4 p.m., and the second game taking place at 6:30 p.m.
Baylor is led by junior pitcher Gia Rodoni. Landreneau said in order for his team to take advantage during their time against Rodoni, they need to be aggressive and attack her pitches.
“I think a lot of people have been trying to figure her out all season. She elevates her game in the postseason. We know that she is a quality pitcher and can attack the zone from both sides of the plate, and she changes speed really well. You get one pitch to hit when you face her, so we better be ready to take it and attack that pitch. I think we just have to stay aggressive in the strike zone, and hopefully we get a mistake and we are able to capitalize on it.”
A&M is led by Tori Vidales on the offense and Trinity Harrington on defense. Vidales leads with a .346 batting average, 11 home runs, and 53 RBIs, while Harrington attacks the defense with a 1.80 ERA and a 13-5 record.
A&M head coach Jo Evans said that their time in the postseason is dependent on the rest of her batting order stepping up and helping Vidales on offense.
“We really need Ashley Walters to step up behind her. In order for us to make a really great run in this postseason, we need Kaitlyn Alderink, Riley Sartain and Kristen Cuyos to have more quality at bats. We are doing a great job at the top of our lineup. If we’re scoring, it’s those kids stepping up and doing their job at the top. We need that bottom half and middle of our order to get more comfortable and get some timely hits,” Evans said.
Evans also praised Harrington and the improvement she has seen throughout this season.
Evans said Harrington’s confidence has grown throughout the years and believes that super regionals last year are when she started to mature. Evans revealed they will start with Samantha Show for the first game and end with Harrington for the third game.
Vidales said she likes the feeling of hosting a regional compared to traveling to one and likes the idea of having the home field advantage.
“I think it is a little bit different solely because we are hosting. My first two years we had to go on the road for regionals. It definitely did make a big difference,” Vidales said. “Being able to be here last year and host, it gives you more familiarity with how it works and the schedule of things because even today we have allotted practice schedules. It makes it a little easier to adjust to the scheduling and working on your preparation going into the game. We also are able to prepare for all three teams because you don’t know what is going to happen. I like hosting a lot more than going on the road, so we are glad that we are here, especially in this new stadium.”
The Aggies will open the NCAA Tournament against Prairie View A&M at 6:04 p.m. at Davis Diamond.