Who wouldn’t want a second trip back to California in under two weeks?
The No. 23 Texas A&M softball team (7-4) returns to the state, this time for the Mary Nutter Classic beginning Friday in Cathedral City.
The classic is among the largest and most competitive Division 1 softball tournaments outside of the NCAA postseason. A total of 36 schools will be competing, such as last year’s College World Series participant No. 9 Kentucky and the Aggies’ longtime foe, Texas.
A&M finished 3-2 in its last trip to California in the SoCal Collegiate Classic tournament.
The Aggies will begin the tournament with a single game at noon Friday against BYU. Action will continue with a doubleheader Saturday against UCSB and Cal State Fullerton. A&M will wrap it up Sunday with another two-game day with an early 11 a.m. start against Syracuse and a game against Stanford at 1:30 p.m.
In its last game against No. 2 Oregon, A&M suffered a 5-1 defeat. However, the Aggies trailed the Ducks by only one run going into the last inning.
Senior Rachel Fox has started seven of the 11 games for the Aggies, leading the team in pitching with a 2.15 ERA.
Freshman Tori Vidales has been playing lights out at the hot corner for the Aggies, leading the club in home runs, hits and RBIs with 4, 11 and 10, respectively.
“She’s such a great player,” said A&M head coach Jo Evans. “She does such a great job and has great instincts. I love the way she competes at the plate. She comes every day to play and isn’t intimidated by anybody. She shouldn’t be, she’s too good for that. I’m really proud of the way the kid plays and every time she’s up, you know something good is going to happen. That’s who she is to our ball club. She’ll be doing great things for the next four years.”