No. 25 Texas A&M softball went 1-2 in this weekend’s series against Auburn. The Aggies dropped the series finale 3-1 on Sunday afternoon at Davis Diamond and now are 26-11, 5-7 in SEC play.
A&M coach Jo Evans said Sunday’s loss was disappointing because the Aggies went into the game feeling like they could win the series. Evans said struggling at the plate is ultimately what prevented the Aggies from coming away with the win over the Tigers.
“The frustrating thing from our perspective is that our offense is doing the same thing over and over again — not making adjustments,” Evans said. “[Auburn] didn’t really have to change the way they pitched to us because we did not make adjustments from the first at-bat to the next at-bat to the next. [I’m] disappointed in that. I don’t think we competed well at the plate, I don’t think we were mentally tough today in terms of how we approached our at-bats and didn’t stay in our plan.”
Junior Haley Lee got A&M on the board in the first inning by launching her 15th home run of the season, but her run would be the only to come across the plate for the day. Lee now ranks second in the SEC for home runs recorded this season.
“First of all, I’m really excited for Haley,” Evans said. “There are teams that don’t even have 15 home runs right now and she’s earned every one of those. There wasn’t one of them that just snuck out, she got every one of them.”
Evans said Lee’s maturity as a batter has allowed her to reap such success at the plate. Evans said Lee understands and processes the kind of hitter she is and the pitcher she’s facing at a high level and is good at making a plan and sticking to it.
Other than Lee’s home run, the maroon and white only managed to get on base three times. Lee had a second hit, along with one each from freshman Bre Warren and senior Ashlynn Walls.
Evans tipped her hat to Auburn pitcher Shelby Lowe who pitched both Friday night and Sunday’s games. Evans said the freshman is well-versed in that she moves the ball well and changes speed which explains A&M’s offensive struggles. Despite seeing her for the second time, the Aggies struggled to get anything going offensively on Sunday. Evans said the team looked much sharper against her the first time.
As for A&M, the Aggies cycled through a carousel of pitchers after pulling starting pitcher Grace Uribe who struck out three in the three innings pitched.
Evans said replacing Uribe early on was part of the game plan coming in since Auburn had already seen her on the mound for the majority of Friday’s game.
“That was a plan we had coming in today,” Evans said. “In hindsight, I still feel good about that plan. I thought she threw well — gave up that one solo shot, that’s not usually going to cost you a game. But I thought she pitched well and I thought Kayla Poynter came in and pitched really well too.”
Senior Kayla Poynter pitched the next three innings then was replaced by junior Makinzy Herzog after giving up five hits. Herzog struck out one and walked two before junior Hannah Mayo was brought in to close out the game, her second appearance of the season.
Looking ahead, Evans said she hopes to turn things around offensively and that making those critiques and adjustments at the plate will be critical to the team’s success. However, Evans said she’s encouraged by the Aggies’ defensive performance as of late, including her pitching staff.
“I’ll tell you what I like is that these last two games we’ve played good defense,” Evans said. “I’m encouraged that we can kind of take a step back and pay attention to detail and I think that’s going to bode well for us coming into this next week. Every game is an opportunity for us to get on a roll.”
Up next for the Aggies is a mid-week, nonconference game against Sam Houston. Evans said playing on a Wednesday rather than on Tuesday as the team sometimes does, is in A&M’s favor because it allows them more time to prepare by watching film and hitting off of the machines after having Monday off.
The Aggies will host the Sam Houston Bearkats at home on Wednesday, April 14. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. at Davis Diamond.