Coach Trisha Ford didn’t know it would be her 100th win with No. 4 Texas A&M softball. 

It was only confirmed after junior third baseman Kennedy Powell made the game-winning jump to home plate, the No. 3 Florida Gators’ ball inches away from her face — in the first matchup of its kind to grace Davis Diamond: A&M against a top-five Florida squad. Both teams needed to prove themselves. No errors, few fumbles — a battle of resolve and skill.

In the bottom of the seventh inning, the Aggies prevailed, pushing to a low-scoring but energetic 3-2 victory over the Gators — a history-making effort that sent the Aggies to the rest of the Southeastern Conference series with winds at their back.

“We talked about this, when I took this job, you know, that we were gonna run the bases really aggressively,” Ford said. “We’re gonna be fast, and we’re gonna push the envelope. It’s a game of playing catch, so you wanna force them to have to be able to be perfect on a throw and a catch.”

WALK-OFF AGGIE MAGIC ON OPENING NIGHT! :triumph:@AggieSoftball x #SECSB pic.twitter.com/FKyQVxmqws

— Southeastern Conference (@SEC) March 8, 2025

But before the win came the struggle: a slow, unbalanced, draining one. Aggies began slightly in control, the crowd on its feet and amplifying its sound after each Gator missed a swing. Attendees watched Florida senior left fielder Korbe Otis attempt a light bat, pushing the ball to her feet before running. 

But not so far. Stopped in her tracks, she returned to the pit.

Powell later stepped up, sprinted forward — and was stuck out. A&M graduate designated player Mac Barbara, two swings in, saw the writing on the wall. She looked down and prayed. Her next bat sent the ball to the stands. She stood her ground. She’s sent home. The bottom of the first ends like the top, tied at 0. 

Stalled. Stopped. Cut off. The cycle kept both teams trapped, a loop of skill and fortitude breached only by slight blunders and the occasional skill difference. 

Florida junior 3B Kenleigh Cahalan’s appearance would change nothing. Barbara, nearing second base, would be out sooner than she hoped. In a throw, Powell dominated batter Florida sophomore second baseman Mia Williams, pushing forward further than any prior — but ultimately leaving no impact on the top of the second’s score. The Woodlands native shot time and time again, her arm weakening, her form flustering. But the top of the second ends with no change. 

Then, a dream. A&M freshman first baseman Mya Perez hit the ball, and answering the Aggies’ prayers, it left the ballpark — sending the crowd flying, bubbles filling the Diamond like water. Perez changed the game, ending the bottom of the second with A&M ahead by one. 

Then, stalemate.

The top of the third would leave no team satisfied. The bottom wouldn’t either. 

A&M freshman right fielder Frankie Vrazel had to get ahead, and she did — momentarily. Rushing to second, a ball landed directly in a mitt before her. The top of the fourth: three Gators — all sent home, pushing forward with no success, sparks of joy crushed by realization. Freshman right fielder Taylor Shumaker, dismissed by a final ball as it slammed into a mitt. She entered the dugout with the bat over her shoulder. 

Stray balls littered Davis Diamond. One Aggie batter sent a ball into a press box, in — and subsequently out of after he lost control of it — a man’s hands. Below, an attendee added the artifact to their collection. 

Several Gators pushed past the barriers and into dangerous territory for the Aggies. 

It was a magical time for those on the field — specifically for those doing the magic. When senior left-handed pitcher Emiley  Kennedy stepped up to pitch, Shumaker stepped up to bat. 

But a dream, a miracle, a homerun, something special took place, as Shumaker flew past home base and into her teams’ arms with screams, securing the Gators their first point of the night on the top of the fifth. In the dugout, she jumped and screamed. 

But the next up — Otis — returned as quickly as she went. But by the bottom of the fifth, it would feel as if it didn’t matter. The audience, the teams, the coaches knew: It would be a low-scoring game, a battle decided by single moves, one-time plays. Everything counted. The score would come with time.

Then, it did. 

Junior LF Kramer Eschete returned to the plate. For the first pitch, she didn’t swing; for the second, she stood staring. When the third screeched toward her, she stood still and tapped her legs with the bat out of frustration. She leaned back for the fourth and in the fifth, when hit, went foul and straight to the net.

On the sixth, she sprinted to the next base with the bat on the ground. Wooley, up next, hit freshman right-handed pitcher Katelynn Oxley’s ball barely within the foul line — so close that Gators stopped, thinking it not a threat. But Wooley knew. She pushed to the next base with the 12th Man cheering her on.

Florida dispersed throughout Davis, Powell staring — then running. Bases loaded. Junior pinch hitter Amari Harper, up to bat. She stared, she aimed, she hit — foul ball. Next, into the net. A full stadium sat before Powell, her teammates yelling advice from the stands. She couldn’t do it. Perez stepped in. 

Once more, a miss. Oxley stared, motionless and emotionless. She threw the balls downward, left, right, projectiles arriving from every angle. She’d take down the Aggies herself if provided the energy. For a moment, it looked like she had found it. 

The next ball went into the net protecting the Aggie faithful. A swing, followed by a ball in the air. 

Then, Perez sent the ball screaming into the outfield into the Gators’ hands. Four Aggies sprinted for the finish line — one made it to the end and three are struck out. A&M stood ahead, 2-1. 

An hour and a half into a struggle, both teams gathered on the field. Winnable for all, points relied on the tiniest details — pixels in a recording, a ball’s trajectory measured in centimeters. Walsh stepped up knowing what was on her shoulders. Kennedy, standing opposite her, doubled the pressure. Walsh swung. She hit it. Then, a catch — an out. She returned to the bunker as soon as she entered. 

But Williams wouldn’t succumb so easily. Several Gators, oblivious to the ball flying through the air and set to escape the ballpark, did not notice the home run that Williams sent flying. As quickly as the Aggies had pulled ahead, the Gators had dragged themselves back up. It would be a grind to the end. 

The players had realized. Kennedy sat in her own world. Nothing existed but the ball, her mitt and the batter before her. Leg forward, a throw — a strikeout. She flashed a smile before returning to grim. Tied, at the bottom of the sixth. 

Enright up to bat. Oxley, on a mission against her.

The Bartow, Florida native had done her duty the best she could to this point, sending Aggies to the dugout and balls to mitts. Enright faced her wrath. She looked to be returning to the bunker. 

Then a bunt sent the ball forward, pushing it to the left, outside the lines. Hope dissipated. The illusion was correct. Oxley reinforced it by sending the next ball in a seemingly impossible trajectory, almost curving midair to hit the Gators’ mitt. Enright out. Dement took her place. Little changed. Oxley had found her rhythm. It was hunting season, and the prey was colored maroon.

The Aggies controlled the diamond next. Kennedy needed to match Oxley’s prowess, her seemingly sixth-inning-specific empowerment. She didn’t look at Holtorf as she walked toward the plate. Standing still, Kennedy’s foot balanced in the circle — an underneath throw. Holtorf fumbled. Then, she hit it — but Kennedy caught it herself, sending the next challenger back to the dugout. 

Falby was next, and she wouldn’t last long, sending a ball straight to a mitt just two swings in. Shumaker, three swings in, looked to the sky. Fourth, to the ground. Fifth — she sent the ball to the net. She wouldn’t attempt the sixth, dropping the bat and running forward. 

Like Oxley, Kennedy met the moment. The bottom of the sixth would end with no runs scored. But it would end with a crowd louder than any other point in the game — a 12th Man inflamed, seeing victory so close — but so easily lost. Erickson was up next against Kennedy. She’d send a ball flying away — but into the mitt of the right outfielder. No runs, no hits, no errors. The teams entered the bottom of the seventh inning tied, 2-2. 

Both teams’ dugouts, previously vibrating with laughter or jumping, lay still. Eyes locked onto the field more than at any point in the game. Then came claps from the 12th Man. A silent Florida squad kept their eyes on the field as Eschete stepped up to the plate. Oxley, seemingly facing no tire or loss of ability, threw lasers as she sent Eschete packing. 

No team was ahead, and no players seemed tired. Wooley would try, but her sprint would be caught and then Powell walked on. She’d make the swing the Aggies needed, immediately flying to first base. 

With two Aggies on base and a path to victory in sight, a seemingly unbreakable barrier in Oxley lied in the way. To break the seal, Barbara. Only one hit, a foul — a souvenir courtesy of the Dixie Chicken.

Then, from nowhere, a flight — a ball in the air, quickly picked up by a Gator. A crowd that had gone silent, now screaming. Powell, sliding to the home plate, less than a second away from a tag that meant defeat. 

Gators glued their eyes to the ground. Aggies jumped in the air, the thoughts they had just moments prior juxtaposing their new emotions. There it was: Powell, reaching home plate. Over the intercom, a speaker read a prepared statement aloud: The historic matchup was Ford’s 100th win at A&M. 

The first matchup of its kind, won at the Diamond. A full crowd on their feet, meeting the moment. Aggies on the field, dancing and jumping with joy.