No. 2 Texas A&M softball dropped the ball Saturday night, losing 7-4 to No. 9 Arkansas in the second game of the series while stranding eleven runners on base.

Currently sixth in Southeastern Conference play, the Razorbacks entered a jam-packed Davis Diamond — housing 2,418 gig’em thumbs and traveling cardinal and white T-shirts shouting “Wooo Pig Sooie” with pumping fists.

But this game, “Wooo Pig Sooie” would quiet the Maroon and White. 

Junior third baseman Kennedy Powell drilled a pitch from freshman right-handed pitcher Payton Burnham, who finished off the Aggies in Friday’s loss, into a throwing error by freshman 3B Ella McDowell. Powell raced safely into first, colliding with senior first baseman Bri Ellis as she followed the wild launch into the runner’s lane.

Powell went on to steal second base as junior right fielder Amari Harper struck out looking. 

Graduate designated player Mac Barbara then stepped up to the plate. Her cleats buried into the batter’s box as she read Burnham’s every twitch — and slaughtered the changeup pitch. 

Soaring 230 feet over the right field wall, Barbara drove Powell home and rounded the bags for a pair of runs to close the bottom of the first inning.

“Mac wants to hit,” coach Trisha Ford said. “That’s what she’s here for.”

Unfortunately for the Aggies, when you prod a pig, it gets angry.

In the top of the fourth, a Razorback nested in the box. Ellis, batting a .486, stamped at the earth as she faced senior RHP Emily Leavitt. The Aggie kept the Hog guessing, but the power behind Ellis’ swing was daunting — fouling twice into the Aggie bullpen with bullets off the bat. 

The next 54 mph pitch came lazy, and Ellis read it well, thundering a homer into left-center field for Arkansas’ first run.

Back-to-back singles then chased her dinger, as an erupting hit by junior RF Kailey Wyckoff kissed the tip of sophomore 1B Mya Perez’s outstretched glove followed a single by McDowell to the Aggie shortstop.

Leavitt was then retired and replaced by freshman RHP Sydney Lessentine in the circle. 

But luck didn’t follow her onto the field.

Senior DP Courtney Day smoked the ball through the left side, sending it dancing deep and propelling McDowell home — tying the game at two-all. The bottom of the fourth was brutal for the Maroon and White, with consecutive ground outs and looking strikes silencing the 12th Man and trailing sour attitude into the dugout.

“We just didn’t get that big hit,” Ford said. “We had opportunities, we just didn’t capitalize.”

Opportunity came knocking in the top of the fifth, only for freshman second baseman KK Dement to stumble into a back-breaking error. Senior infielder Raigan Kramer smacked a straight shot to Dement, who let it fly between her legs and allowed .366-hitting junior center fielder Reagan Johnson to creep home to give  Arkansas a lead over the Aggies.

Later in the inning, a McDowell single through right side loaded the bases for the Razorbacks, forcing a pitching change onto the Fightin’ Farmers.

Freshman left-handed pitcher Kate Munnerlyn went head-to-head with left-handed hitter Wyckoff, priming the softball for an easy pop-up floating above Harper.

But Harper misjudged the hit, and the ball skipped over her reaching glove and into fair territory — another Aggie error that saw Ford dropping her head in her hands as Arkansas’s Ellis and Kramer sprinted through the plate to wrap the three-run show.

Davis Diamond came alive again when Perez fired a bloop up the middle in the bottom of the fifth, advancing freshman pinch hitter Frankie Vrazel to third and charging the bags with Aggie runners.

Barbara was then called to the box, one home run away from tying the score. But she wouldn’t get the chance, as for the second time in the matchup, Arkansas’s Burnham intentionally walked the powerhouse hitter.

“It’s annoying that you can’t be able to help your team,” Barbara said. “I wanna be able to move runners and be able to produce.”

Barbara wasn’t allowed her hit, but the same can’t be said for Ellis in the top of the sixth.

Waiting on a surprise slow pitch, Ellis dipped down and met the ball with a fierce pivot, sending it thundering into the top of the scoreboard for her second homer of the afternoon. Her fists found the air as she followed Kramer home for the Razorbacks’ final package of runs.

Another pitching rotation from the Aggies sent junior RHP Grace Sparks to the circle at the start of the seventh inning and she was able to keep Arkansas from adding more runs to the board before A&M returned to the batter’s box.

Harper was the first to hit and the first to hang her head in defeat as McDowell made a quick throw in time to first for a ground out.

Perez walked, and comfortably aiming for second,Barbara singled through a pocket in the right side for a base hit and landed on first. Senior CF Allie Enright mirrored Perez’s walk, loading the bases for the Aggies as sophomore pinch runner Hailey Golden strode in to run for Perez.

Golden came home smiling thanks to Burnham’s fatigue after pitching nearly seven whole innings saw her issue a walk to Dement. 

The Aggies were plagued by two outs and a home run away from tying the ballgame as freshman catcher DeeDee Baldwin gripped the bat.

Arkansas was awake and aware of this fact, and quickly sent junior LHP Robyn Herron into the circle for Burnham. However, Herron reflected the same style, walking Baldwin and watching as Barbara danced on home for A&M’s fourth and final run.

The infield was choked by Maroon and White, and Vrazel was the Aggies’ ace — one good hit away from another Davis Diamond comeback story. Though her bat found the ball, it flew into left field and into Kramer’s waiting glove.

“There’s highs, and there’s lows,” Barbara said. “It’s the game of softball.”

A&M faces Arkansas once more on Sunday, April 27 at 12 p.m. for the last game of the series.