Friday night, No. 9 Texas A&M began its last regular season conference series with a a 6-2 loss against No.18 Alabama at Rhoads Stadium in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
The Aggies kicked off the game with an RBI double from senior Ashley Walters scoring sophomore Sarah Hudek to take 1-0 at the top of the first. With that RBI double, Walters became the school’s career doubles-leader with 49, surpassing Aggie legends Jennifer McFalls, who played at A&M from 1991-94 and Megan Gibson, 2005-08.
The Crimson Tide would respond at the bottom of the first with a three-run home run coming from Bailey Hemphill. The Aggies would end the inning with a double play, and the Alabama took a 3-1 lead into the second inning.
Aggies would respond again with another RBI double, this time courtesy of senior Tori Vidales scoring fellow senior Erica Russell. The Aggies cut the lead to 3-2. The Crimson Tide responded in the same inning again with an unearned run coming from Merris Schroder in the bottom of the second. Alabama would carry a 4-2 lead into the third inning. They would keep that lead the rest of the game.
The third and fourth inning were defensive fight, A&M was unable to get anything going at the top of the third. The bottom of the third inning ended an impressive 4-6-3 double play.
The Aggies continued to struggled on offense in the top of the fourth inning only getting one runner on. They would keep the lead within two after a 1-2-3 inning thanks to a great diving catch from Russell.
The Crimson Tide scored on a Demi Turner RBI single that forced A&M to go to their bullpen to pull sophomore Peyton McBride. Alabama continued to add onto their lead off of a sacrifice fly scoring Demi Turner.
The Aggies will be back in action, Saturday for game two of the series. First pitch is set for 2 p.m. at Rhoads stadium.