Down 9-1 after the second inning, the Texas A&M softball team kicked off a rally attempt in the top of the fifth that brought the Aggies within one but left them with a 9-8 loss to No. 10 Kentucky.
Though the effort came up short, it was highlighted by a career-first for redshirt freshman outfielder Kyndall Murray. With the bases loaded and two outs in the top of the sixth, she notched her first hit as an Aggie: a grand slam to put A&M within three at 9-6.
“You get your first collegiate hit and how about a grand slam?” A&M coach Jo Evans said. “Let’s just do that. We played Kyndall all weekend and she’s had quality at-bats. She hadn’t had a hit, but she’s had quality at-bats. If you’re mature enough to understand that you are getting quality at bats, you don’t feel discouraged or take yourself out of it. You just know every at bat builds on to the next one and I think that’s what you saw. You saw a kid who didn’t feel sorry for herself. She actually was striking the ball really well and coming up just huge in that situation. I’m really proud of Kyndall Murray.”
The Aggies managed to score two more runs before the end of the game. At the top of the seventh, sophomore utility player Morgan Smith was walked and sophomore catcher Haley Lee hit a double to put A&M in scoring position. Two outs followed, but junior third baseman Dani Elder kept the Aggies’ hopes alive with a single that scored both baserunners. A pair of hits from freshman infielder Jourdyn Campbell and junior infielder Ashlynn Walls loaded the bases for A&M.
With bases loaded and two outs, Murray returned to the plate for A&M. However, she was unable to repeat her success from before as a fly out ended the game.
With the loss, the Aggies drop the SEC-opening series 1-2. Though A&M was unable to come out with the win, Evans said there are still positives to be taken from the series.
“I’m really proud of our kids,” Evans said. “We got ourselves down in the first two innings and Kentucky had a couple of bombs, but I just really love the way our kids fought. That was the message the whole game. I don’t care what the score is right now, but we’re going to show character and we’re going to show fight. There’s no way we’re going to back down right now. We scored nine runs in game one. We scored six runs in game two to win and we can score those nine runs. I’m proud of our kids because they didn’t quit.”
Senior Kendall Potts got the start on the mound, allowing nine runs in the first two innings that the Aggies couldn’t rebound from.
With two walks and a reach on a fielding error, the Wildcats loaded the bases early in the bottom of the first. A strikeout followed to give Kentucky two outs, but A&M couldn’t escape the inning unscathed.
On the next at-bat, senior pitcher Autumn Humes hit a homerun to put the Wildcats up 4-0 early.
The Aggies attempted to answer in the next inning but could only score one on a single RBI homerun from Elder.
Kentucky quickly extended its lead in the second with a single and another bases-loaded homerun, this time from junior infielder Mallory Peyton.
Following the homerun, sophomore Hannah Mayo replaced Potts on the mound, pitching 1.2 innings and allowing just one hit. Freshman Ashley Daugherty came in at the top of the fourth and stayed in the circle until the sixth, throwing one hit with three strikeouts and one walk. Senior Payton McBride finished the game and allowed one hit with one strikeout.