One down. Two to go.
No. 15 Texas A&M softball backed itself into a corner by losing to Arizona State in Game 3 on Saturday, May 16, meaning the Aggies needed to win three straight games to keep dancing in The Greatest Show on Dirt. A&M handled business against UConn, delivering a 10-3 win to stay alive.
“We live to fight another day,” head coach Trisha Ford said. “It’s always tough when you lose a heartbreaker, like we did that first game, and then come back and you’re facing a team that just had a big win. So the momentum is huge.”
Following the devastating loss to Arizona State, A&M sailed through calmer waters at the steady arms of sophomore right-handed pitcher Sydney Lessentine and sophomore left-handed pitcher Kate Munnerlyn, who combined for nine strikeouts, five hits and two earned runs.
“I thought [Lessentine] did a great job,” Ford said. “I thought she worked all quadrants of the zone really well. I thought she worked ahead pretty well, it was good. We’re gonna need her tomorrow.”
The sparsely populated A&M faithful that dotted the David Diamond stands for the late-night affair were treated to early runs in the form of the Aggie lineup methodically putting the Huskies to sleep.
Junior first baseman Mya Perez got things started with a skidding grounder that gave senior third baseman Kennedy Powell enough time to score from third. Perez and her power-hitting partner senior designated player Micaela Wark scored on a bases-loaded walk and wild pitch, respectively, putting the Aggies up 3-0 in the first before the teams switched sides.
But the sting from the Arizona State Sun Devils burning them clearly lingered for the Aggies, as two errors in the bottom of the frame reawakened the Huskies. Senior second baseman Savannah Ring advanced to second on a Powell fielding error, before moving to third on a fielder’s choice. An errant attempt to gun down a runner at second from sophomore catcher Ariel Kowalewski sent Ring flying home to bite back, 3-1.
In a purgatory-like environment in the ballpark where A&M seemed to be in a holding pattern before tomorrow’s duel with Arizona State, the Aggies took a while to extend their lead — a far cry from the 13-run second inning that saw them blow the doors off the Huskies on May 15.
“We kinda went into the locker room and thought about it two ways, we can really let this loss get to us or we can fight back and be the team we know we are,” sophomore shortstop KK Dement said. “We kind of just upped the mood, played some music, danced a little bit.”
That moment of grandeur came courtesy of Dement, who tomahawked her 12th home run of the season halfway up the scoreboard in left field to add two more runs to the Maroon and White’s total, 5-1.
The California kid added to her RBI tally, bringing her up to 45 on the year, with a single down the left field line that brought junior pinch runner Hailey Golden back to the dugout, welcomed by a cascade of bubbles.
The Huskies made things interesting in the sixth inning thanks to sophomore C Heidi Barber’s solo blast to left field and a looping RBI single from senior center fielder Kaitlyn Kibling that scored another, cutting the deficit to 6-3.
A&M made sure to turn the seventh inning into a party, though, with home runs from Kowalewski and sophomore left fielder Paislie Allen — along with a fielding error on a routine pop fly — giving the Aggies their final 10-3 advantage, officially setting the table for a date with the Arizona State Sun Devils to fight for their postseason lives.
“It’s May, everybody has fatigue,” Ford said. “You just gotta gut it out, you gotta give us everything you have. This is what you worked all year for … no excuses. You gotta go out and execute, and let’s have some fun.”
First pitch for Sunday, May 17’s Regional Finals is set for 2 p.m. and will be the first-ever Regional broadcast on ABC.
