The No. 17 Texas A&M softball season began Feb. 8 as the Aggies swept the weekend beating Long Beach State, California State University Bakersfield, Wright State and UCLA in the Stacy Winsberg Memorial Tournament in Los Angeles, Calif.
The Aggies out-scored their opponents 32-7, putting the run rule in effect against Long Beach State (8-0) and Wright State (11-0).
Cal State Bakerfield put up one run in a contest that went down to the wire as the Aggies scored six runs in the sixth inning to put the game away at 7-1.
The Aggies got off to a 3-0 start against No. 19 UCLA and held off the Bruins in eight innings, 7-6.
Head coach Jo Evans spoke highly of the offense the Aggies put up over the weekend.
“I feel really good about our bats,” Evans said. “I loved our patience, looking for good pitches to hit, being aggressive, hitting some long balls, stealing some bases. I really felt like our kids showed good patience.”
A&M never trailed at any point in their first four games of the season.
Matthew Balinski, freshman international studies major, said this makes for an exciting season to come.
“The power and force A&M showed throughout the weekend was awesome, Balinski said. I think that is shows how great of a year it is going to be.”
Junior catcher and first baseman Nicole Morgan led the team through the weekend with four home runs in four games to go with 10 RBIs. Morgan was one of three Aggies with a slugging percentage of 1.00 or higher through the first four games with a steady 1.46. On defense, Morgan also had 23 put-outs.
Alyssa Silva, senior sports management major, said she looks forward to the rest of the year.
“Morgan had a terrific series, wonderful performances,” Silva said. “I’m excited about what she and the rest of the team will do this year.