No. 7 Texas A&M faced Louisiana Tech Sunday afternoon in a final showdown of the A&M invite in College Station.
The Aggies would come about an offensive explosion in Sunday’s game, scoring 10 runs on 10 hits, led A&M to a 10-1 run-rule victory over Louisiana Tech.
Action in Sunday’s match-up started off intense in the top of the first inning with the Bulldogs managing to get a run in with bases loaded with only one out.
Senior pitcher Lexi Smith would face a challenge after allowing the walk that would load the bases. This was a scenario that Smith has faced many times before, and one that she relishes.
“I love bases loaded situations…they’re one of my favorite situations because I love to compete, and [I] like to not let that runner score. Put me in a pressure situation, it’s really fun for me”, Smith said.
responding to Louisiana Tech’s loaded bases in the top of the first by loading the bases themselves in the bottom of the inning. Despite solid batting, a walk, and an error committed by the Bulldogs, the Aggies would not be able to bring in a run to respond to Louisiana Tech’s score, but this didn’t faze the team.
“We were patient at the plate, and when we got something to drive, we got all of it. On defense we ended up making some plays, and got out of there”, head coach Jo Evans said about her team in response to a her team’s rough start.
After solid pitching by Smith, the Aggies would return to the plate in the bottom of the second inning as rain began to fall. Neither the deficit nor the rain however would affect the Aggies at bat, as the offense came alive in the bottom of the second.
Sophomore outfielder Kelbi Fortenberry would start the offensive onslaught with a single and a couple of stolen bases all the way to third due to a Bulldog error. Fortenberry would be brought in to score by a double, hit by senior shortstop Kristen Cuyos, tying the score at one a piece.
Junior infielder Kaitlyn Alderink would then hit a double that would bring in two runners for A&M, and would extend the Aggies lead, 3-1.
Sophomore outfielder Sarah Hudek would lead the Aggies batting average with .400, and junior infielder Riley Sartain would go on to a strong performance on the day as well, hitting two first-pitch home runs in the third and fourth innings.
“I know that a lot of the time that the pitcher is not going to go out there and try to get behind batters, and I know that they’re trying to get ahead and throw strikes, so if they do we’re going to try to make them pay all ways”, Sartain said.
Louisiana Tech would begin to struggle at the mound, especially in the third inning with A&M having all bases loaded. The Bulldogs would end up walking in two runs for the Aggies, extending A&M’s lead to 6-1 going into the top of the fourth.
Sartain would empower the Aggie offense again in the fourth inning with her second home run off of the first pitch of the inning. With the score at 7-1, Alderink would end the game against the Bulldogs with a triple towards the fence that would drive in three runs bringing the score to what would be the final at 10-1.
The game came to a close as the victorious Aggies would improve to an 18-3 overall record, after winning four of the five games played during the A&M Invite.
A&M has three more games before starting conference play as they are set to host Ole Miss next Friday. The Aggies will play their next game against Penn State Tuesday at 6 p.m.