In an away game, the odds are often never in the road team’s favor. Nevertheless, when the Aggies are far from the home field, they bring it home on the field.
With the victory over the Bearkats on Feb. 16, Texas A&M moved to 6-0 to start its season. The 13-6 win marks the highest score on the road for the Aggies since their 16-run game against South Carolina in 2017. The maroon and white also racked up three triples in the game, the first time since 2019.
The Aggies came out of the gate swinging with freshman left fielder Katie Dack hitting a three-run shot to left field. Freshman shortstop Koko Wooley followed quickly behind with a triple to clear the bases. By the end of the first inning, A&M held an 8-0 lead over Sam Houston.
In the second inning, the maroon and white kept their foot on the gas with triples from both senior right fielder Morgan Smith and freshman center and left fielder Cayden Baker to push A&M’s lead to 11-0. However, in the bottom of the third, the Bearkats capitalized on the Aggies’ fielding errors to put five runs on the board.
Sophomore first baseman Mariana Torres made her way home with the help of an RBI single from senior catcher Haley Lee, returning A&M to a seven-run lead in the fourth. The Aggies held their lead through the fifth and sixth innings, but made no additions to their score until the seventh inning when sophomore pinch hitter Mayce Allen hit her first career home run to bring the maroon and white’s lead to 13-5.
Keeping focus despite being on the starting roster is what led to Allen’s success, coach Jo Evans said.
“I’m really proud of Mayce [Allen], especially coming off the bench like that,” Evans said. “Mayce could have been checked out in the dugout at that point, and she wasn’t. She came out and was prepared for that moment.”
The Bearkats managed to scratch on one more run in the seventh, but a ground out to freshman pitcher Emiley Kennedy closed out the game for the Aggies. Kennedy pitched for all seven innings, managing six strikeouts and only seven hits.
Evans said she was proud of Kennedy’s performance and ability to handle herself.
“I thought Emiley [Kennedy] was outstanding today,” Evans said. “She was phenomenal and she kept the ball on the ground. She did a great job when she got herself in some trouble, and she got herself out of it. Emiley was the poised freshman out there that wasn’t rattled, and I’m just really pleased with her.”
A&M returns to the field Friday, Feb. 18 to kickoff the Texas A&M Invitational against the Kansas Jayhawks at 2 p.m. at Davis Diamond.