The No. 23 Texas A&M softball team will travel to California for the Mary Nutter Classic this weekend. The tournament features 19 teams from all around the country and all games will be played at Big League Dreams in Cathedral City.
The Aggies will play six games in three days against elite competition that includes No. 9 Washington, No. 10 Arizona, and No. 16 Central Florida, among others. Coach Jo Evans talked about what a prestigious tournament this early in the season could mean for her team.
“When you go to a tournament like this and you get some big wins, that’s going to carry you through postseason,” Evans said. “We know that the SEC is going to be really challenging so we’ll get to play a lot of great teams, but when we play those great teams and beat them [early in the season] it will prepare us for what we need to do going into SEC play.”
Last weekend, Texas A&M began its season by hosting the Aggie Classic, where they came out with a record of 4-1 and a big win over No. 7 UCLA. On Wednesday, Texas A&M battled in-state foe Sam Houston State, and came out with an 8-0 win to improve their overall record to 5-1.
Two players to watch for in this weekend’s tournament are freshman outfielder Keeli Milligan and sophomore first baseman Tori Vidales. Milligan began her college career very strong in the Aggie Classic in which she got nine hits in 18 at-bats, tacking on eight stolen bases and an inside the park home run. Her performance was good enough to earn SEC Freshman of the Week.
“It means a lot to me, especially considering all of the work I’ve put in after practice,” Milligan said. “Getting that award really validates what I’ve been doing, so it makes me feel pretty good.”
Tori Vidales turned in a strong performance of her own in the Aggie Classic, where she hit with a .417 batting average along with three home runs and six RBIs. Vidales looks to continue her great start this weekend.
“The Mary Nutter is a great tournament for us.” Vidales said. “It’s a great place to go for us because we play so many teams that we wouldn’t get to play normally in the regular season. We get to face teams that give us different challenges than the SEC will give us.”
No. 23 Texas A&M will start the Mary Nutter classic today at 12 p.m. against the Central Michigan Chippewas and will follow that game with a top 25 matchup at 2:30 p.m. against the No. 16 Central Florida Knights.
