After heavy rain in the morning caused the game to be moved from Huntsville to College Station, it turned out to be a nice day at the Aggie Softball Complex as No. 16 Texas A&M cruised past the Sam Houston State Bearkats by a score of 18-4. The Aggies improved their record to 33-11 (6-9 SEC) with the win.
“I was pleased with how we played today,” head coach Jo Evans said. “I expected us to come out and dominate a game and pick up where we left off against Alabama. I thought we hit throughout our lineup, Kaitlyn Alderink, Cali Lanphear, April Ryan all had multiple hit games, Reagan Boenker coming off the bench getting a home run, and I was really pleased with our pitching too, we needed to go out there and establish ourselves on the mound, and we did.”
Fifteen of the 18 Aggie runs came in the 3rd and 4th innings, as A&M scored nine and six in those frames, respectively. The freshman Alderink added four RBIs, two runs scored and a home run while Ryan went 4-for-4 at the plate, tacking on three runs scored and three RBIs. Sartain added a run scored and an RBI and Lanphear had a game-high five RBIs.
“[The win over SHSU] is huge for momentum going into Missouri,” senior outfielder Cali Lanphear said. “Everybody was really clicking 1-through-9 and the pitchers did their job, so it was a really exciting night.”
The school record for steals in a season is 48 set by Sharonda McDonald and freshman outfielder Keeli Milligan, who had 48 steals coming into the game, was unable to get the record-breaking 49th this evening. In the first inning, Milligan walked to reach first base and attempted to steal on the next pitch. She easily reached second, but was called out for leaving first base too early. In the following inning, Milligan reached first on a fielder’s choice. She took off for second and would’ve been safe if her teammate and fellow freshman Kaitlyn Alderink didn’t crush a ball off the scoreboard for a two-run home run.
The Aggies will be back in action this weekend as they travel to Columbia, Missouri to face the Missouri Tigers. The three-game affair begins Saturday at 3:30 p.m.
