The No. 23 Texas A&M softball team (3-2, 0-0 SEC) will host the annual Aggie Classic this weekend at the Aggie Softball Complex. This will be the home opener for the Aggies, who began their season last weekend in Los Angeles participating in the SoCal Classic, going 3-2.
The Aggies will begin play with a double header Friday beginning at 3 p.m. against Penn State and 5:15 p.m. against Eastern Michigan.
Head coach Jo Evans said she is always excited about Opening Day at home.
“I love game day, and what’s even better is Opening Day,” Evans said. “It’s your home field and there’s nothing else like it. It’s great because we practice on the [Aggie Softball Complex] field every day, and then you show up on game day and the field is immaculate, the lines are drawn and there’s people in the stands. All of a sudden, it doesn’t just feel like your field, it feels like game day. The feeling never grows old.”
The Aggies have invited Penn State out of the Big 10, Eastern Michigan from the Mid-American Conference and Missouri State out of the Missouri Valley Conference.
Of these three clubs, Eastern Michigan held the worst record from the previous season by finishing sixth in the MVC with a 13-37 record in head coach Melissa Gentile’s first season at the helm.
Penn State’s lineup is similar to the Aggies in that there are many freshmen making heavy contributions to the lineup, with freshman catcher Alyssa VanDerveer hitting a solo home run last week against Georgia Tech.
For the Aggies, freshman third baseman Tori Vidales hit a grand slam against San Diego State to propel them to victory. Junior Cali Lanphear is pleased with the progress that the Aggie freshmen are making so far.
“We had a tough loss against UCLA,” Lanphear said. “We’re young and they weren’t. They had a senior All-American pitcher, but it was good to rebound the next day and get a win. It helped us grow and prove ourselves.”
The Aggies fell in the final game against Purdue on Sunday 1-0 in what turned out to be a pitcher’s duel. Senior ace Rachel Fox is pleased with the way the players on the mound are performing.
“Our pitching out of the bullpen has been exceptional,” Fox said. “Sometimes you’re going to get roughed up at this level, and you need relievers that can come in and perform. We’re going to continue to get better and better and I’m really excited to see how our staff will improve.”