Texas A&M softball clinches series against the No. 7 Arkansas Razorbacks on Sunday, March 12, in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
Coming into today with the series tied, the Aggies dominated en route to a 9-1 victory. This is now the fifth time the Aggies have beaten a top-25 ranked team.
The Aggies wasted no time getting on the scoreboard, as junior infielder Trinity Cannon launched a ball over the center-field wall in the top of the first. She was the second batter up to the plate, and this home run ended up being the Aggies only hit of the inning. Nonetheless, it put the Aggies up 1-0 before the Razorbacks had a chance to bat. The Razorbacks had a bit of a two-out rally, getting the bases loaded, but they could not capitalize.
Senior outfielder Morgan Smith came to the plate to start off the second inning for the Aggies. A solo shot to right-center field was the result, as Smith gave the maroon and white a 2-0 lead. The solo home run did not spark any more offense in this, however. It was now Arkansas’ turn to get a run. Back-to-back doubles by sophomore outfielder Kacie Hoffmann and freshman infielder Lauren Camenzind shrank the Aggie lead to just one run. Aggie sophomore pitcher Emily Leavitt had just replaced senior pitcher Madison Preston at the start of the second inning, but was able to overcome the tough start and prevent further damage. She would turn it on for the rest of the game, shutting the Razorbacks down and striking out six batters.
An offensive explosion by the Aggies in the third inning signaled the beginning of the end for the Razorbacks. With two outs, junior catcher Julia Cottrill drove a single right past the second baseman. This allowed Cannon to score from second base. Freshman Keely Williams hit a single, then Smith drove the two runners in with a double to center field. This was immediately followed by another double by freshman outfielder Riley Valentine. Junior infielder Rylen Wiggins singled and drove in Smith, making the score 7-1. The five runs scored by the Aggies in this third inning were more than they had scored in the whole series up to that point.
The offenses were both contained in the fourth inning, bringing the Aggies up to plate six runs on the Razorbacks. With Valentine on first base via a walk, Wiggins doubled to left center field. Now with two runners in scoring position, all it took was a single from freshman infielder Amari Harper to get two more runs across the plate. The Aggies finished the inning up 9-1. With a potential run rule on the line, it was up to the Razorback offense to keep them alive. However, Leavitt made quick work of Arkansas’ last hitters, so the Aggies got the win in just five innings.
“I think, especially after Friday night’s game, that was our challenge to them, just like, ‘Hey, that was one game; flush it,'” coach Trisha Ford said. “Obviously, we bounced back and had a great game against Arkansas on Saturday. Today was kind of the cherry on top, honestly. Hopefully, we are starting to understand what makes us play Aggie softball: what is this brand and what does it look like? But obviously I’m very excited about this weekend.”
Ford then highlighted the importance of pitching performances such as Leavitt’s today.
“Our pitching staff this weekend was great,” Ford said. “That’s where we are going to have to keep us in all of these ball games—making sure that in the circle we are taking care of business.”
After taking the series, the Aggies improve to 16-7 and are likely to jump right back into the top 25, which they fell out of after losing to Baylor and Sam Houston State last weekend. Similarly, they find themselves towards the top of the SEC standings, tied with the No. 18 Georgia Bulldogs for fourth place as of now. The Bulldogs are also the next opponents on the A&M schedule, as they will come to Davis Diamond for a series starting on Friday, March 17, at 5 p.m.