Texas A&M softball will conclude the regular season with a three-game series against No. 4 Florida in Gainesville this weekend. The first game will be played on Friday evening.
The Aggies will be looking to snap their three-game losing streak after being swept by Kentucky at home last weekend while the Gators went 2-1 on the road against Missouri in their most recent series.
The maroon and white will also be eager to get back in the win column over the Gators, as Florida has won nine of its last 10 matchups. The Aggies’ most recent win over Florida occurred in Game 2 of the 2018 super regional series.
A&M coach Jo Evans assessed the team’s recent performance and said more offensive production from the Aggies is critical.
“You know, we’re setting the table,” Evans said. “We’re stranding runners and not getting timely hitting. I think we need to do a better job with our pitch selection. I think when we’re really good, we’re doing a good job with taking walks and getting [on] base. We need our bottom of the order to be able to do that so we can get our top of the order in situations that can produce some RBIs.”
Evans went on to say that getting on base is not what’s plaguing the team. Rather, bringing runners around instead of stranding them is the challenge. The team has experienced the consequences of the lack of timely hitting, Evans said, especially in recent games.
“When I look at it, we have many opportunities. It’s not a case where we just can’t get anybody on base. We actually can get on base,” Evans said. “We’ve got to do a better job of manufacturing some runs, putting people in motion, finding a way to get a timely hit. We’re just going to have to be that much more aggressive.”
Evans said, per usual, this weekend’s series against the Gators will be no easy matchup.
“Florida poses challenges because they’re like they always are. They play great defense so they don’t give you anything, and pitching wise they’re just really steady,” Evans said. “Their ERAs are low and they don’t make mistakes, so we have to be that much better.”
One aspect Evans is encouraged by is the fact that the team will have its final exams behind them and will essentially be done with schoolwork by this weekend. Evans said she was frustrated with the team’s lack of energy and focus in last Friday’s game against Kentucky, but looking back, said she realized they had a lot on their plate at the time.
“My hope, or my thought, is that we will be going to Florida and we won’t be in finals, we’ll be done with school,” Evans said. “I think that will be helpful to keep all of our energy and focus on the game at hand, and I think that’s going to be something that we don’t have that distraction. Our standard has to be that we bring great energy to the game, especially when you’re playing a team like Florida.”
In other good news, Evans said graduate transfer Kelsey Broadus could potentially be available this weekend after not seeing any action the past few weeks. Evans said Broadus’ absence was out of an abundance of caution regarding a possible stress fracture in her foot but recently she’s back throwing in the bullpen.
The Aggies will take the field on Friday, May 7, for the first game of the final regular season series of the year. The first pitch is scheduled for 5 p.m. at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium.