Texas A&M softball returned to Davis Diamond on Wednesday, March 1 and downed the Houston Cougars in a six-inning run rule, marked by a three-run home run and a walk-off home run to end the game.
This matchup was the first home game since Thursday, Feb. 16. The Aggies have traveled coast to coast for fast and furious pre-conference play the past two weeks, and the game against Houston was the only home game until Friday, March 17. Now No. 25 in the nation, the Fightin’ Farmers played powerfully from start to finish with eight hits, five RBIs and an overall .348 hitting percentage.
The Aggies jumped on the scoreboard early in the first inning of the game and rallied on two outs. Leadoff sophomore shortstop Koko Wooley drew a walk and took her performance to the bases. She stole three total bases and scored on her own with aggressive base running. Junior first baseman Trinity Cannon and freshman catcher Riley Valentine drew back-to-back walks and filled the bases. Fifth-year senior outfielder Morgan Smith brought her excited teammates out of the dugout with her three-run bomb over the left field fence.
“Morgan … that’s a super senior’s veteran leadership,” coach Trisha Ford said in the post-game media interview. “I thought she did a really good job of not trying to do too much with that ball.”
The hot hits persisted in the bottom of the third inning. Wooley tripled to right field and racked up two more RBI. She took home again on a wild pitch to the backstop and played with visible energy. The maroon and white were up 7-0 in just the third inning.
A&M played clean defense consistently and held Houston to one run in the top of the fifth inning. Sophomore pitcher Emiley Kennedy threw five innings with three strikeouts, and sophomore pitcher Emily Leavitt finished off the sixth inning with another strikeout. The Aggies were on the brink of finishing the game early with a seven-run lead.
In the bottom of the sixth-inning, junior outfielder and left-handed pitcher Grace Uribe stepped in the batter’s box for her third at bat of the season as a pinch hitter. Uribe jumped on the second pitch and smashed a walk-off home run over the left field fence to end the game.
“At Davis [Diamond], you never know if it’s going out or not,” Uribe said with a laugh.
A&M is now 7-0 at home and will travel to Waco this weekend for the Ode to Joy Invitational. The Aggies will play a double header on Saturday, March 3, against Sam Houston at noon and No. 19 Baylor at 2:30 p.m.
“I’m obviously happy with our result tonight,” Ford said. “These are tricky ones, and Houston’s a good ball club. We’ve been on the road the last two weekends from coast to coast. We really harped hard on the team on our ability to stay focused, to come out here and take care of business. I thought Emiley [Kennedy] threw a great game. Emily [Leavitt] came in and finished it off. Koko [Wooley] had a great night. We had some good pinch-hitting opportunities. Morgan Smith and Grace Uribe. I could go on and on, but I was really pleased with our focus.
“The next couple of days, we’re going to focus in on Baylor and Sam Houston and take care of that business. That’s something that’s kind of big in our program. Baylor’s had a really good year so far and had some big wins. We get an opportunity to go and get them twice. So we’ll see how it goes.”