Texas A&M softball hopes to extend its five-game win streak this weekend as the Aggies host a trio of teams at Davis Diamond for the Reveille Classic tournament.
Lamar, Campbell and No. 19 Tennessee are among the teams the maroon and white will face this weekend with the first game slated for 3 p.m. Friday, March 5 against Lamar.
A&M coach Jo Evans said having a ranked Tennessee team on the schedule this early in the season is a big deal, especially for the younger players that have yet to compete against an SEC team.
“With the Tennessee game, for our youngsters to see what it feels like to play a top-20 team, an SEC opponent — how they move, how they act, how they handle themselves, how they manage pressure — all of those things, I want our youngsters to see that and feel what it feels like,” Evans said. “It’s going to be heightened. The second we get into SEC it elevates your play, elevates your heart rate, it’s exciting, there’s enthusiasm [and] it’s not hard to get up for those games.”
Evans said win or lose, Tennessee provides a critical opportunity for the team to gain conference experience and learn a few things about themselves.
“I think it’s really important to play that caliber of competition, to get a gauge prior to another week or so [when] we’ll be in SEC,” Evans said. “I think it’s really important, and I’m looking forward to that matchup. I think we’ll learn a lot about our team — win or lose we’re going to learn a lot, and I think it’s really important at this point in time.”
A&M’s last matchup against the Volunteers resulted in a 6-4 win after 10 innings. A&M was supposed to play a three-game series last year against Tennessee, but COVID-19 interrupted the season beforehand.
The Aggies are looking to extend their five-game win streak this weekend and have proven their ability to win in various ways throughout the young season.
“We’re a team that can win a pitchers duel, we’re a team that can win a slug-fast, [but] we’re a team that’s not perfect,” Evans said. “We need to shore up defensively, which I think we will. I’m not losing sleep over it at this point. I do think that there’s a lot to be said about a team that can win in different ways. We can manage this any way a team is going to throw it at us.”
Following last weekend’s tournament, Evans said she wanted to see more consistency in the team’s lineup. The Aggies’ bats came alive in their most recent game, an 11-5 win over Sam Houston on Wednesday, March 3, in which the maroon and white recorded five home runs.
In addition to junior Haley Lee’s six home runs so far this season, Evans said she’s encouraged and pleased by the bottom of the lineup in particular, and she hopes to see the productivity continue.
“I’m looking at the bottom half of our order and how productive the bottom half has been,” Evans said. “You see Ashlynn Walls. We put her in the two-hole last week in our Sunday game against Tulsa, [and] she’s really stepped up. Dani Elder’s been a lot more productive, you see Morgan Smith in there starting to get more comfortable and Jordan Campbell getting more comfortable. Rylen Wiggins got her first hit last night. I’m encouraged by that, and that consistency is really important. You’re not every game going to hit one through nine. The game is not set up like that, but the fact that we’re getting so many quality plate appearances every game, that’s really good so I’m pleased to see that.”
A&M will see action against Lamar and Campbell on Friday, March 5 at 3 p.m. and 5:30 p.m., respectively, followed by another doubleheader on Saturday. The maroon and white will take the field against Campbell for the second time before its matchup against Tennessee and will close out the weekend with a second matchup against Lamar on Sunday, March 7.