Game 1
After a delay due to bad weather on Friday, March 15 No. 17 Texas A&M softball started its weekend series against No. 21 Mississippi State with a doubleheader on Saturday, March 16.
The Maroon and White took Game 1 of the series with a 9-0 win over the Bulldogs in a five-inning run-rule affair.
The first inning saw junior LHP Emiley Kennedy strike out two Bulldogs, the second of which put her at 100 strikeouts for the year.
A walk from junior RF Allie Enright kicked off the second inning, with senior 2B Rylen Wiggins following the walk with a homer into left field to send her and Enright home to put the first 2 points on the scoreboard for the Aggies.
The Aggies followed that with a single from sophomore 3B Kennedy Powell, then junior SS Koko Wooley doubled to right-center field with Powell being called out at home. However, after a quick review, the officials ruled that Powell was safe and ran it home for A&M to grab a 3-0 lead.
Following the run from Powell, senior CF Jazmine Hill reached on a fielder’s choice and advanced on the throw. Then, senior 1B Trinity Cannon walked to first to fill the bases for the Aggies. Another reach, this time from senior C Julia Cottrill, advanced Hill to third and Cannon to second with Wooley being called out on her way home.
However, A&M didn’t let its bases-loaded look go to waste, as sophomore DH Aiyana Coleman doubled to right field to send Cottrill, Cannon, and Hill home to make it a 6-0 ball game.
Coach Trisha Ford opted to switch out Coleman for freshman PR Scout Lovell, who ran it home for the seventh score of the inning off of a single up the middle from Enright.
The third inning for the Aggies was headlined by junior LF Kramer Eschete, as she started first for A&M by reaching first on a muffed throw and then stole second, with Powell walking to first right after. A passed ball allowed Powell to advance to second and Eschete to get to third. A ground out from Hill advanced Powell to third and set up Eschete to run it home.
After allowing a walk, Kennedy struck out three straight Bulldogs to end the third inning with the Aggies up 8-0.
A single up the middle from Cottrill started the Maroon and White off in the fourth, with freshman PR Hailey Golden going in for her. Golden then advanced to second thanks to a walk from Coleman.
The ninth run and final from the Aggies immediately followed as Enright singled through the right side to set up Golden for the run.
The fifth inning came and went, as the Maroon and White held off all attempts from Mississippi State to try to extend the game, with A&M walking away with a 9-0 victory.
Game 2
After picking apart Mississippi State in Game 1, the Aggies showed no signs of slowing down in the game that followed, winning 8-5 to take the series.
Freshman RHP Josey Marron started off her time in the circle by hitting Wooley with a pitch, then Hill grounded out to second while Wooley advanced.
The Bulldogs gave up another free base after Marron walked Cannon, then setting up Cottrill to knock in Wooley with a sacrifice fly to right field, although it was nearly a double play if not for a throwing error by fifth-year RF Paige Cook.
After junior RHP Emiley Leavitt struck out two batters in the bottom of the first, the second inning was silent for both sides.
Wooley once again got the lineup off to a hot start, this time with a single right up the middle. Hill followed her with a single to right field, then Wooley stole home after Cannon pushed her further along the bases with a groundout to third. Giving the Aggies a 2-0 lead going into the bottom of the third.
Leavitt and the rest of the Maroon and White defense finally felt the pressure from the Bulldogs’ offense after freshman SS Kylee Edwards singled to right field, which pushed junior DP Jessie Blaine further along the baseline after she was walked the previous play.
Fifth-year LF Brylie St. Claire barely made it to first after bunting straight to Leavitt, but an official review by the umpire confirmed the Bulldogs’ loaded the bases. Junior CF Sierra Sacco hit an RBI single to center field to push in Blaine for Mississippi State’s first score in the series.
Graduate RHP Shaylee Ackerman came into the game with the bases loaded and her team behind her, they responded with a wild double-play after sophomore 3B Nadia Barbary flew out to center field and caught Edwards out at home with a long throw from Eschete.
An offense-packed fifth inning broke the scoring seal on the Fightin’ Farmers, with Powell and Wooley starting off by hitting a single each. The Bulldogs were caught sleeping by Wooley, who stole second then Powell made it home after an error on the throw to second.
Cannon followed her up with a single RBI to far left field, allowing Powell to run home.
After freshman PR Haley Golden took Cannon’s place on base, freshman DP Mya Perez singled up the middle to let Golden advance.
Then Enright did what she does best: hit the ball far.
Enright’s three-run RBI blast brought home Golden and Perez, pushing the score to 7-2.
The Bulldogs snuck in another run in the bottom of the fifth, Barbary singled to right field which knocked in St. Claire, who was walked prior by Ackerman.
In the top of the sixth, Wooley hit a single down the middle and made it all the way to third after a wild pitch by Marron. She scored her fourth run of the game after Hill hit an RBI single to the pitcher.
The Bulldogs found life in the bottom of the sixth with a homer by fifth-year 1B Madisyn Kennedy, bringing the score to 8-3.
Mississippi State’s last chance came in the bottom of the seventh when the Bulldogs loaded the bases off a single by Edwards, a fielder’s choice throw that allowed fifth-year RHP Matalasi Faapito to reach first and Sacco was walked by the closer, Emiley Kennedy.
Madisyn Kennedy blasted a two-RBI single down the middle of the field, pushing in St. Claire and Edwards for runs four and five. However, the late effort was ultimately futile as a groundout to Wooley ended the game 8-5.
Next, A&M will finish the weekend series in Game 3 against Mississippi State on Sunday, March 17 at 11 a.m. in Starkville, Mississippi.
