Texas A&M softball’s season ended with a 9-6 loss to Wichita State; the loss marked the second time in A&M history that the maroon and white lost to Wichita State in the regional tournament.
Earlier that day, the Aggies managed to stave off elimination with a 10-3 victory over Morgan State, but were unable to carry over their momentum to the second game. The Aggies finished the season with a 32-23 overall record.
In the first game of Saturday, May 22’s NCAA regional double header, A&M’s offense followed up a scoreless first inning from senior starting pitcher Kayla Poynter with a 2-RBI single from senior Dani Elder to take an early 2-0 lead.
After both teams were held scoreless in the second inning, the Aggies picked up another run when sophomore Shaylee Ackerman scored on a Morgan State error. Shortly afterwards, A&M scored another pair of unearned runs on a 2-RBI double from freshman Rylen Wiggins to increase its lead over Morgan State to 5-0.
Morgan State mounted a comeback in the sixth inning by scoring three unearned runs off Poynter to cut its deficit in half. However, in the next half inning, junior catcher and utility player Haley Lee put the game out of reach by hitting a grand slam to give A&M a 10-3 lead. A&M moved on to face Wichita State in a rematch of Friday’s game.
Statistically, Lee led the way offensively with five RBIs and three hits. Although Poynter gave up three runs in the sixth inning, it didn’t take away from a much needed performance in a win-or-go-home scenario. She went 5.2 innings while only giving up three hits and striking out seven batters.
A&M moved on to face Wichita State with the winner advancing to the Norman Regional Championship. Both teams held the other scoreless in the first two innings of the game, but Wichita State scored a combined four runs in the third and fourth innings off A&M freshman starting pitcher Grace Uribe to take an early 4-0 lead.
Uribe had a season total of 61 strikeouts in 94.1 innings of play, giving up eight walks and earning a season ERA of 3.64.
A&M pulled back one run on an RBI walk from Elder to decrease Wichita State’s lead to 8-6 going into the seventh inning. However, Wichita State went on to score another run off Poynter via a solo home run to go up three runs again. A&M failed to score in the bottom half of the seventh and lost to Wichita State, 9-6.
When A&M tried to mount a comeback Wichita State matched it. The Aggies only got three innings of three-run ball from Uribe and Wichita State scored another six runs off of the A&M bullpen.
Offensively, Lee led the way once again with two hits and three RBIs.
Lee broke A&M’s single season home run record with 25 home runs. A&M coach Jo Evans said it was an especially great achievement in light of all of the great hitters that have come before her.
“What a tremendous accomplishment for Haley to break the Texas A&M single season home run record, especially considering all great power hitters who have worn the Aggie uniform,” Evans said. “I am proud of Haley. She processes the game at such a high level and it has been a thrill to watch her throughout this season. I love how happy her teammates were to celebrate her great accomplishment. I have no doubt that Haley will position herself as one of the best hitters to come through our program.”
Evans now has an overall career record of 1269-684-2.
The Aggies concluded their season on a negative note, losing eight consecutive games in a row, prior to the events of Saturday, May 22.
A&M ended the season with a 8-16 record in the SEC, while Wichita State went on to lose its next game of the tournament to Oklahoma, 24-7.