The No. 12 Texas A&M softball team heads to Tuscaloosa against sweet home No. 13 Alabama in a rare Saturday-Sunday-Monday series, starting April 13 at 11:30 a.m.
Both teams have their fair share of excellent players. Aggie graduate CF Jazmine Hill was awarded the SEC Player of the Week after going 6-for-9 at the plate within the week, including a 5-for-8 go in A&M’s series win against Kentucky.
Combining the Aggies’ games against Prairie View A&M and Kentucky, Hill racked up a double and a triple, five walks, four runs and three RBI, and that’s just offensively. Defensively, she had three putouts and two assists added to her record, including a game-ending 8-2-6 putout in the second win against Kentucky.
Popping out for the Aggies has also been junior LF Kramer Eschete. Her fielding abilities assist in ensuring a secure defense.
In Game 3 against the Wildcats, Eschete had a failed attempt to rob a home run from sophomore C Karissa Hamilton, but that didn’t stop her from continuing to keep all outfield hits in play and keeping runners to just one base.
Another standout is junior LHP Emiley Kennedy, who already racked up 134 strikeouts this season. With her specialty changeup pitch, “Lefty” managed to hold the Wildcats to six hits during the Aggies’ 2-1 weekend.
During its battle with Kentucky, there were a decent amount of strikeouts from A&M. In the last inning of Game 3, with runners on first and second and one out, the Maroon and White could not pull their side up and left Davis Diamond with a 1-0 loss.
With a 31-8 record, the Aggies have continued to rise and fall between their No. 12 and No. 14 rankings over the past couple of weeks. Wherever the Aggies went, the Crimson Tide followed, moving from 15th to 13th after A&M went 14th to 12th.
Some of Alabama’s players also earned SEC accolades, including graduate RHP Kayla Beaver with SEC Co-Pitcher of the Week and freshman RHP Jocelyn Briski with SEC Freshman of the Week.
Beaver went 2-0 in two starts against Ole Miss, allowing her team to secure its first SEC series win and sweep the series. She threw 11.2 shutout innings in two appearances, throwing 16 strikeouts. Her offspeed pitches work especially well with left-handed batters, of which A&M has many.
Her inside pitches get fairly close to the batter while still maintaining the ball in the strike zone. At the start of Game 3 against Ole Miss, Beaver threw 4.2 shutout innings with seven strikeouts to take the win.
During the same series for Alabama, Briski made her first career SEC start with a complete-game victory. In the second complete game of her career, Briski allowed one run and gave four strikeouts.
Bama is sitting at a 29-8 overall record with a 6-6 conference record.
“We’re going to have to be on our A-game,” A&M coach Trisha Ford said. “I think we all know that. I’m excited for this opportunity. I think it’s a big series for us … So, we’re going to work hard and prep for them and hopefully come out ready to go.”
