No. 5 Texas A&M softball cinched a run-rule win against the No. 20 Auburn Tigers, as three navy and orange errors paired with 12 unanswered runs favoring the Aggies brought the final score to 13-2. A&M earned five runs and four hits in the final inning alone.
The first inning began bleak for the Aggies with Auburn senior right fielder Icess Tresvik walking, later stealing second and advancing to third on senior shortstop Nelia Peralta’s single to right field. Following an error by obstruction, Tresvik scored and Peralta stamped a cleat on third before gunning for home plate after a hit to center field by freshman designated player AnnaLea Adams.
As the top of the second peaked over the clouds shadowing Jane B. Moore Field, Auburn holding a two-run advantage over a single Aggie run earned by senior shortstop Koko Wooley, A&M graduate DP Mac Barbara twirled her bat in gloved hands and trailed fire into the batter’s box.
Clank. The ball sang against Barbara’s bat like a blacksmith’s hammer ringing against an anvil, her hit singling through the left side. She advanced to second on a passed ball and then to third on senior center fielder Allie Enright’s single to shortstop.
Enright quickly established her presence on third while senior catcher Gracyn Coleman walked, forcing Barbara into a race for home. The success of her run was mimicked by freshman pinch runner Kelsey Mathis, who pinch ran for Coleman, and by Enright, bringing the Aggies to four. Wooley swiftly made it five on a field error by Auburn, closing out the inning with four Aggie runs and three hits.
The belly of the second inning was starved for competition as the Tigers struck out looking and swinging, plunging the game into the top of the third with no more than a passing breath thanks to the impressive pitch placement by sophomore A&M pitcher Sidne Peters.
Junior right fielder Amari Harper brought a sweet start to the inning with a single to center field and secured second base by way of an Auburn fielding error at the hands of senior second baseman Rose Roach, assisted by senior CF Abbey Smith.
Soon, the Aggies choked the Tigers with loaded bases. Harper rested on third, Barbara advanced to second after her single to shortstop on a wild pitch thrown by senior P Haley Rainey and Dement earned a leisurely walk to first. Enright was the key unlocking A&M’s next pair of points, hitting a fly ball into a double play for Auburn, sending herself and Dement to the dugout and directing Harper and Barbara home.
A score of 8-2 lit the board, unchanging, until the top of the fifth inning. The scoreboard then gave way to five more Aggie runs as Enright adjusted her helmet and pawed at the ground at the same moment she locked eyes with the pitcher.
Bat-to-ball bliss rang out when she doubled to center field, dancing on dirt while the Tigers struggled to get a claw on the ball. She advanced to third on a bunt by Eschete, Coleman reaching second after having walked to first. Coleman’s walk was mirrored by Wooley, and as pressure mounted and runners advanced, Enright slid safely into home plate a hair before the ball was swallowed by the catcher’s glove.
Following a single by sophomore first baseman Mya Perez, Wooley trailed Eschete home. Dust clung to the air in their wake, the field only disturbed further as Powell pivoted around the bags, chased by sophomore PR Hailey Golden.
Powell left cleat marks on home plate, and Golden advanced as Harper singled to third and was granted a clear shot to second on a throwing error by senior third baseman Anna Wohlers. A&M’s final point followed Golden home as an Aggie out-gifted Auburn a final inning to try and turn things around.
A&M senior P Emily Leavitt stepped up into the circle. The softball seemed to come alive in her hand, the red laces and yellow body reduced to a blur of color as it left her fingertips to pound the zone.
Sophomore pinch hitter Ma’Nia Womack’s bat found the ball, however, sending it soaring left and deep. Eschete stretched for it, just able to close her glove around the prize as her heel kissed the warning track. Auburn happened to secure sophomore PH Thalia Martin on third on a passed ball, but Leavitt landed another strike with a change-up pitch dropping to 55 mph on Auburn’s Adams, who grounded out to third on the next pitch, sealing the bottom of the fifth.
A&M battles Auburn again on Sunday, March 15, to conclude the series.
