The Texas A&M softball team took on the No. 17 Georgia Bulldogs on Friday, March 17 at the Davis Diamond for the first of a three-game series.
The Aggies lost 7-5 to the Bulldogs in a back-and-forth match that had the Aggies fighting to come back.
Georgia started off hot in the first inning, building a big lead.
Senior second baseman Sydney Kuma got the party started with an RBI single into right field and freshman center fielder Jaydyn Goodwin scored on the hit. Redshirt senior first baseman Jaiden Fields ripped a 2-run RBI with an infield single, knocking in Kuma and junior right fielder Jayda Kearney, making it a 3-0 ballgame for the Bulldogs.
To cap off the first inning, the Bulldogs were able to make it 4-0 with an RBI single from freshman catcher Marisa Miller, with freshman left fielder Sydney Chambley scoring on the hit.
A&M had a single and a walk in the first inning, but they were unable to produce any runs.
The second inning was a different story for the Aggies, as they held the Bulldogs to zero runs and were able to get on the board.
Junior left fielder Bre Warren hit an RBI double into left field, with junior third baseman Rylen Wiggins scoring to make it 1-4.
The maroon and white put on a show in the third inning, an inning in which the Bulldogs had two errors. Junior catcher Julia Cottrill hit a double, with junior first baseman Trinity Cannon scoring off of one of the Bulldogs errors.
Freshman center fielder Keely Williams hit a single up the middle, which led to Cottrill scoring to make it 4-3. Another error by the Bulldogs opened the door for Wiggins to advance to second and Williams to advance to third. A wild pitch made it possible for Wiggins to advance to third and for Williams to score to tie the ballgame.
At the bottom of the fourth inning, the Aggies took their first lead of the game off of another Bulldogs error.
Freshman second baseman Amari Harper scored on a hit by Cottrill followed by another error by the Bulldogs.
The Aggies struggled to put anything on the board in the fifth inning. However, Georgia was able to tie the game with a homer over the left field fence from Chambley.
Junior shortstop Ellie Armistead hit an RBI double into left field, and sophomore center fielder Dallis Goodnight grounded out, allowing Armistead to make it to third. Senior third baseman Sara Mosley finished the job by hitting an RBI double that Armistead scored on to take the lead in the sixth inning.
Fields hit a home run at the start of the seventh inning for the Bulldogs to make it 7-5.
The Aggies were not able to put any runs on the board in their last chance at bat. In the seventh inning, A&M had zero runs, no hits and left one on base.
A&M will face the Bulldogs again on Saturday, March 18 at 5 p.m. and Sunday, March 19, at 1 p.m.