On Friday, March 18, Texas A&M softball took on its second SEC opponent, the Florida Gators. The A&M defense proved strong, holding off the fifth-ranked team until the sixth and seventh innings. However, the Gators made a comeback leaving the Aggies to sit 0-4 against conference opponents following the match.
Coach Jo Evans said Florida’s ability to make steady improvements is what lost A&M the match.
“That right there is why Florida is the No. 5 team in the country,” Evans said. “They make really good adjustments in their at-bats. As the game moves on, they just get better. Unfortunately, we’ve been on the receiving end of that too many times, but we put ourselves in a position to win the game.”
A&M took advantage of a fielding error early in the second inning to send sophomore second baseman Rylen Wiggins home. The Aggies’ momentum carried into the third inning with an RBI double by senior first baseman Haley Lee, bringing the Aggies up 2-0.
The tide began to turn in the fourth with freshman pitcher Emiley Kennedy giving up her first hit of the game, but the Aggies held on with their third double play of the night to keep Florida off the board. The Gators’ comeback began in the sixth inning with a double off Kennedy. They ran away with the win in the seventh inning with a two RBI single that gave Florida the 3-2 lead.
Despite the loss, Evans said that making sure the players know what they did well keeps morale up.
“What I don’t want our kids to do is feel like they’re snakebit,” Evans said. “Our defensive play was solid, despite the couple of errors we had. To turn four double plays in the game is pretty phenomenal in softball. I told our kids to make sure they keep perspective. I get it, right now we all feel bad about this loss. But in the morning, you better wake up and be ready to go to war.”
The three-game series against Florida continues at Davis Diamond on March 19 and 20 at 2 p.m. and 12 p.m., respectively.