After an exciting no-hitter against Prairie View A&M, Texas A&M softball played host at Davis Diamond to Kentucky on Friday, April 5. The Aggies rose to an overall record of 30-7 after coming back from behind by four runs in the fourth inning.
Junior LHP Emiley Kennedy started strong by striking out the lead-off Kentucky batter, but the rest of the Aggie defense was caught off guard by a hit from fifth-year LF Rylea Smith that sailed past junior 2B Rylen Wiggins.
Smith extended the error by stealing all the way to third before Kennedy walked freshman RF Peyton Plotts. Senior 3B Grace Lorsung then brought the rest of her Wildcats on base home with a blast past the center field wall.
Kentucky did not slow on defense either, senior P Stephanie Schoonover struck out down both sophomore 1B Amari Harper and graduate CF Jazmine Hill, then junior SS Koko Wooley hit a fly out to left field.
The Wildcats showed no signs of stopping after a solo home run shot by sophomore 1B Lauryn Borzilleri in the top of the second inning, extending the lead to 4-0.
“We have had some games where we could chip away [at our opponent’s lead],” coach Trisha Ford said. “But I told them after the score [that] this game is still early, we have a plan against [Schoonover] let’s stick to it and execute the things we need to.”
The Fightin’ Farmers tried to breathe life into their offense but failed to punch in any runs after senior DP Trinity Cannon and junior RF Allie Enright were walked. Schoonover struck out sophomore C Gracyn Coleman afterward, ending any hopes that inning.
A bases-loaded situation worked in A&M’s favor after two batters were once again walked by Schoonover, aided by junior 3B Kennedy Powell’s single down the left-field line. Hill brought Powell home with an RBI single to short-stop, and then Cannon hit a sacrifice flyout which allowed Harper to score off a throwing error from redshirt sophomore CF Jenna Blanton.
The Maroon and White closed the scoring distance further with another sacrifice RBI hit, this time by junior LF Kramer Eschete which pushed Wooley through home plate for the third run of the inning.
Coleman got her revenge against Schoonover and tied the game after slamming a double to the bottom of the center field fence. Powell then pushed her into scoring distance at third with a sacrifice bunt before Coleman stole home off an error by senior SS Erin Coffel.
The Aggies continued to take care of business on defense, most notably with Kennedy, who finished with six strikeouts and allowed only two hits throughout seven innings.
In the bottom of the seventh, Hill brought the game home with a walk-off RBI double to end the Wildcats’ hopes of taking Game 1. Wooley had earned first base off a wild pitch and then stole second on the previous play before Hill sent her home with the shot.
“With each at-bat, I was just learning how I can make an adjustment,” Hill said. “I knew that she was eventually going to pound the [strike] zone, I just knew I needed to hunt the end of the ball and have a plan.”
Next, A&M will face Kentucky again at Davis Diamond on Saturday, April 6 at 3 p.m. to decide Game 2.
