In a weekend that featured three games against Top 25 teams, including the No. 1 team in the country, No. 6 Texas A&M softball suffered its first two losses of the season while defeating three teams — two of which were ranked — at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic in Cathedral City, California.
A&M wrapped up the tournament with a 4-3 extra-inning loss to No. 1 Washington. The nine-inning affair ended with a ground ball to third base by senior shortstop Kristen Cuyos. The Aggies were down by a run in the bottom of the ninth after the Huskies scored two in the top half.
Washington broke the 2-2 tie after Amirah Milloy, who was standing on second base due to the international tiebreaker rule, scored off a fielding error by Cuyos.
According to the NCAA rule book, the international tiebreaker rule can be implemented at the top of a predetermined inning, placing the batter who is ninth in the lineup on second base at the start of the inning.
The Huskies then extended their lead the following play with an RBI by Taylor Van Zee. A&M cut the lead in the bottom half of the inning after senior catcher Ashley Walters led the inning off with an RBI single, which allowed junior Kaitlyn Alderink, who was on second due to the international tiebreaker rule, to score.
Junior Samantha Show suffered her first loss of the season, pitching nine complete innings and giving up eight hits with three strikeouts.
A&M head coach Jo Evans said in a video posted to the team’s official Twitter account that the Aggies failed to execute in the last inning of the game, which could have propelled them over the Huskies.
“We came here expecting to win,” Evans said. “We played the number one team in the country and, obviously, we’re disappointed that we didn’t come away and take over the game. We certainly had lots of opportunities [with] the right people up at the right time and just quite couldn’t get that run across.”
A&M’s first loss of the season came on Thursday. In the second game of the day, Nebraska handed the Aggies a 6-3 loss.
Nebraska scored four runs in the bottom of the fifth inning, taking a 6-2 lead. A&M added a run in the top of the seventh inning to slim the lead down, but were unable to add any more runs after.
Before the loss, A&M defeated Notre Dame 5-3 after sophomore Sarah Hudek hit a two-run homerun in the sixth inning to give A&M the game winning lead and breaking up the tie. Show earned the victory, giving up 11 hits and allowing only three runs with six strikeouts.
The Aggies rebounded on the second day of the tournament with wins over No. 5 Oregon, 3-1 and No. 19 California, 5-1.
A&M mounted a comeback to defeat the Ducks behind a seven strike-out game from senior pitcher Lexi Smith, who gave up one run.
Oregon entered the game as the third highest scoring offense in the country and had Smith in a bases loaded jam with no outs, with their lone run coming off a bases loaded walk. However, Smith was able to limit the damage to a single run after inducing two pop flys and throwing a strikeout for the last out.
Smith said the 3-1 victory was hard fought and challenging in the circle, but once she was able to compose herself, she began to get into a rhythm that wasn’t going to stop.
“We started off good, then we had that one bad inning and coach asked me point blank ‘I need you to throw strikes, can you do that?’ And I like to compete so I said, ‘I can,’” Smith said. “From then on, I was making quality pitches, letting the defense work and they did a tremendous job … I just threw my pitches with a purpose and wasn’t going to back down.”
A&M returns home to the Aggie Softball Complex on Tuesday, Feb. 27 as they host Sam Houston State for a doubleheader. First pitch is scheduled for 4 p.m.