A pair of homeruns by Payton McBride earned the Aggies a 7-1 win over Abilene Christian in the second day of the Aggie Classic, though her presence on the mound wasn’t enough to lead the Aggies to a second win on Saturday.
The Aggies fell to the University of Texas at Arlington 5-4 for a 2-2 record in the Aggie Classic.
A&M got off to a quick start against Abilene Christian, plating four runs in the first inning with sophomore utility player Meagan Smith and senior pitcher Payton McBride each notching a homerun. McBride knocked out a second homerun in the third inning, giving the Aggies a 6-0 lead.
Junior pitcher Kayla Poynter earned the win in the circle, finishing with 16 strikeouts.
Poynter said she was really pleased with herself in the game against Abilene Christian.
“I feel like a lot of my stuff was working,” Poynter said. “Going into this game, it was just trust the process and trust everything you’ve been doing this whole time and hit your spots.”
A&M coach Jo Evans was really happy with the team’s performance against the Wildcats.
“I was really pleased with how we approached the game against Abilene Christian,” Evans said. “Our kids attacked the ball; we talked about that yesterday, just getting pitches to hit and being more relaxed.”
As for the final series game against UT-Arlington, the Aggie offense started out strong in the bottom of the first inning, with four runs featuring a double RBI from freshman infielder Jourdyn Campbell and a single RBI from sophomore catcher/utility player Haley Lee.
Both teams remained scoreless until the top of the fourth when the Mavericks’ offense stepped up their game with a single RBI from senior second baseman Avery Grimes, making the score 4-1.
In the top of the sixth, junior first/third baseman Madison Miller posted a single RBI for the Mavericks which prompted the Aggies to change out sophomore pitcher Makinzy Herzog for McBride. The Mavericks were not done, with Grimes posting a double RBI, tying the game up at 4-4. Following this, both teams remained scoreless, requiring extra innings. In the top of the eighth, Grimes once again posted a single RBI for the Mavericks. The Aggies could not come back in the bottom of the eight, falling 5-4.
Evans said the team needs to improve on their momentum.
“We need to do a better job with keeping momentum,” Evans said. “I thought UTA did a great job, they just kept coming at us.”
On Sunday the Aggies will conclude their play in the Aggie Classic with their final game against Abilene Christian at 12:15 p.m. The game will be broadcast on the SEC Network+.