No. 2 Texas A&M softball’s bats have been blistering hot in the post-season.
The Aggies made program history on Thursday after their first run-rule victory over South Carolina in the Southeastern Conference Tournament, which was followed by a historic takedown of rival Texas in yet another rule-run win. Their 14-2 victory over the Longhorns sent the Aggies into the championship matchup: another first in school history.
The historic records didn’t stop there. The Maroon and White broke tournament records for the most runs scored in an inning, most runs scored in a game and the most RBIs in a single game, thanks to junior first baseman Amari Harper.
“I thought that was a tremendous offensive display put on by our team,” coach Trisha Ford said. “To be able to play in a championship game is huge for us.”
Senior left-handed pitcher Emiley Kennedy started in the circle for A&M, holding Texas scoreless through the first inning. The Aggie defense got off to a strong showing with a double play in the top of the first inning and a fly out to left field.
On the other side of the diamond, Texas’ senior right-handed pitcher Mac Morgan struggled early after allowing the Aggies to blast off to a 6-0 start.
Morgan did not make it through the first inning after freshman second baseman KK Dement’s three-run home run, replacing her with freshman right-handed pitcher Cambria Salmon. Salmon’s two strikeouts managed to bail the burnt orange out of a horrific first inning.
The top of the second fell silent for Texas as Kennedy and Co.’s defense held on strong. A&M, on the other hand, had another explosive inning with three hits.
“I had a lot of fun, but like she [Trisha Ford] said, I think it comes with a lot of work, like all the work put in before and just trusting the process,” Dement said. “And all the hard work we put in at practice, I feel like that’s fun work. We put all that hard work in and now we have fun.”
Dement shifted the momentum in her team’s favor by extending to a 10-0 lead as the freshman bombed a two-run homer, her second of the day. Junior right-handed pitcher Citlaly Gutierrez was forced to replace Salmon in order to stop the bleeding, facing a deficit of 10 runs.
The disappointing day continued for the Longhorns as they failed to catch any traction heading in the top of the third. Their defensive woes continued to plague them as Harper slammed a three-run home run out of the park, extending the lead to 14. The burnt orange swapped their pitcher afterward as senior right-handed pitcher Sophia Simpson came in to finish the inning.
Texas finally put runs on the board as junior designated player Reese Atwood’s single to left sent two runners home. Simpson put together a strong effort defensively in the fourth as the Aggies were held scoreless for the first time in an inning.
The historic night finished midway through the fifth as the Aggies defense silenced their rivals to end the game, 14-2.
“Oh my gosh, it would be the biggest thing ever,” Harper said about advancing to the SEC Championship. “I think this is our first time making it to the championship, so that’s the biggest thing for us. So, I think we just need to ride this high and try to stay with it and just be ourselves the whole time.”
A&M will play Oklahoma in the SEC Conference Championship tomorrow at 12 p.m on SECN.
