Spirits were high among the Texas A&M softball team following its series win over then-No. 2 Alabama last week. The Aggies took two of three games from the Crimson Tide for their first SEC series win of the season before following it up with a 3-2 win over Lamar in a midweek game.
However, the good times didn’t carry over to Columbia, Mo., as the Aggies were swept by No. 25 Missouri with an 11-6 loss on Sunday, May 1. The loss drops the maroon and white near the bottom of the barrel in the SEC standings, with the team sitting at 5-16 in conference play and 27-21 overall.
A&M got on the board first in the opening frame, as a groundout by sophomore third baseman Trinity Cannon, with the bases juiced, allowed a run to score. Senior pitcher Makinzy Herzog followed it up with an RBI single to put the Aggies on top 2-0 early on.
Herzog returned to the circle as the starting pitcher after opening Friday’s game and pitching an inning in relief on Saturday. After working a scoreless first inning, a wild pitch from Herzog in the second allowed a run to score, cutting the A&M lead in half. Senior first baseman Haley Lee restored the two-run lead with a home run to lead off the third inning, her team-leading 12th long ball of the season.
After an initial strikeout by Herzog, the Tigers blew the doors off in the bottom of the third. A double, a wild pitch and a walk put runners on the corners before a successful squeeze play initiated by graduate second baseman Kendyll Bailey scored a run while allowing her to reach first safely. After a hit batter loaded the bases, sophomore right fielder Alex Honnold worked a walk to tie the game at 3-3. Redshirt senior left fielder Casidy Chaumont then chased Herzog from the game and gave Missouri a 5-3 lead with a two-run single to center field.
Freshman Emiley Kennedy took over in the circle for the Aggies, promptly giving up a single before a wild pitch and a throwing error tacked on two more runs for the Tigers. A walk and a hit batter loaded the bases again before a passed ball brought another run home. After another walk loaded the bases, Bailey worked a free pass to score Missouri’s eighth run of the inning for a 9-3 lead. Having seen enough, coach Jo Evans brought in sophomore Grace Uribe to pitch, who got a flyout to end the inning.
A&M cut into its deficit with a three-spot in the next inning, led off by a single from Herzog. Another single and a stolen base led to a two-out triple from freshman shortstop Koko Wooley that scored two runs. After Lee worked a walk, senior right fielder Morgan Smith laced a single through the left side to bring home Wooley and make it a 9-6 game. A wild pitch advanced the runners to second and third, but a strikeout ended the inning.
Missouri quickly responded in the bottom half of the inning, as a double and two walks loaded the bases with no outs. Senior first baseman Emma Raabe took advantage of the situation, smacking a two-run single that went underneath the legs of the runner at second. A hit batter loaded the bases again with two outs, but Uribe forced a popout to get out of the inning.
The Aggies’ bats were cold in the game’s final three innings, despite the team managing to get two runners on in the sixth and seventh with three walks.
Poor pitch control was the story of the game for the A&M pitching staff, with nine combined walks, four wild pitches and three hit batters.
The Aggies will return to action on Wednesday, May 4 when they take on Houston in a rescheduled doubleheader from March 30. Game times are set for 3 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. from Cougar Softball Stadium.