Following a nearly two-and-a-half-hour delay before first pitch, No. 2 Texas A&M softball endured two three-run inning storms en route to dropping the series opener 7-5 against No. 9 Arkansas.
Lightning and rain pushed a 6 p.m. start all the way back to 8:12 p.m., though the Aggie faithful stayed put for a matchup of Southeastern Conference heavyweights.
Though the thunder had subsided, the lightning would loom over Davis Diamond — but it was the Razorback bats ripping flashes across the earth. A commanding statement from senior designated player Courtney Day was all Arkansas needed to churn out three consecutive hits from senior left-handed pitcher Emiley Kennedy, spelling certain doom if the Aggies couldn’t act fast.
When red-hot Arkansas bats combined with a pair of A&M errors, it made the Razorbacks’ 2-0 lead heading to the bottom of the second inning a fruitful bounty, especially on one of the SEC’s most consistent arms in Kennedy.
Luckily for the Maroon and White, Kennedy would not go quietly in her 17th start this season. Back-to-back 1-2-3 innings alongside two strikeouts temporarily put a lid on a boiling Razorback offense, ensuring that the Fightin’ Farmers had a chance to catch fire as well.
The Aggie bats, however, would have to wait quite a while before piercing through the exceptional start from junior LHP Robyn Herron. A walk issued to graduate DP Mac Barbara in the fourth was A&M’s first base runner in three innings before she, too, was retired on a fielder’s choice.
And if a stagnant A&M offense was not enough to deal with, the Arkansas offense was itching to put itself far in front of its old Southwest Conference rivals. Consecutive base hits put two runners on for the Razorbacks and with another booming swing, a three-run home run threatened to bury the Aggies in a 6-0 hole.
But thanks to a dropped flyout deep in right field, senior center fielder Allie Enright managed to sprint her way around the bases for a triple that was met with delight from the Aggie faithful. The Santa Clarita, California, native did not wait long before she was scoring the first Maroon and White run, and with a runner on second, a late-night breakthrough hung in the balance.
Herron, though, was up to the challenge. Three straight outs from the A&M batting order stranded a runner at third base and left a comeback bid down to just the last two frames. Kennedy’s night was finished after five innings of work, and with junior right-handed pitcher Grace Sparks in the circle, it was up to her to keep the Aggies in the game.
The Crosby High School product did just that when she helped engineer an electric double play to steal Arkansas’s fire for coach Trisha Ford and Co. heading into the bottom of the sixth. The seized momentum paid dividends when a pair of walks and a base hit loaded the bases for A&M with no outs, as the time to strike seemed more apparent than ever.
A pitching change, instead, proved to be Arkansas’ saving grace when it looked to freshman RHP Payton Burnham to close the door on the A&M advance. Burnham miraculously weaved through two batters, and two runners came home for the Aggies, the Razorbacks maintained a 7-3 advantage through seven innings.
Down to their last three outs, the Fightin’ Farmers looked to the bottom of the order to get some much-needed production. Pop-ups became the bane of Aggie hopes and kept them from crawling back in the game.
Or at least not until A&M’s last breath with two down in the seventh.
Junior first baseman Amari Harper did not surrender herself as the final out, slipping a ball through the shallow left-field gap, and before long, sophomore DP Mya Perez’s two-run homer gave hope around the diamond one last time.
Unfortunately for the Aggies, their comeback bid ended with another ground out, concluding the game 7-5 in favor of the Razorbacks.
“We didn’t execute on the level we were able to execute,” Ford said. “But now we’ve got to go out there again tomorrow and play to the level we are able to play.”
The Aggies return to action for a 4 p.m. rematch with Arkansas on Saturday, April 26.
