Texas A&M Softball: Aggies Set to Open SEC Play versus Mississippi State

No. 5 Texas A&M softball will open SEC softball play this weekend with a three-game set vs. Mississippi State at the Aggie Softball Complex.

Texas A&M Softball has started the season hot, outscoring opponents 121-23 on their way to a 19-1 record. The only loss of the season came against Houston who shut the Aggies out at home, 1-0. Aggie Softball will look to build on this momentum as they enter conference play this  coming weekend.

Texas A&M and Mississippi State have faced each other 12 times in the series history. The record is 6-6, so the series winner this weekend will tip the scales in their own favor.

Getting To Know Mississippi State

Mississippi State sits at 19-3 on the season and is currently riding a 15 game winning streak. This early season success has been lead by elite production within the pitching staff. As a staff, Mississippi State sports a 0.98 ERA, which ranks third in the SEC and sixth in the NCAA. The Aggies sit right below Mississippi State, with a staff ERA of 1.12.

Their pitching staff is lead by senior left-hander Alexis Silkwood. She is 9-0 on the season with a 0.70 ERA heading into College Station. She’s claimed the top spot for career strikeouts at Mississippi State and became the first pitcher in MSU history to record 500-career strikeouts last weekend.

Also of note is junior Cassady Knudsen. She ranks 2nd in the SEC in hits per 7 innings, clocking in at 2.33 and 4th in strikeouts with 11.1 per 7 innings. Knudsen also threw her second career no-no against Alabama State last week.

In terms of batting average, the Aggies definitely have a hefty leg up. The Bulldogs rank 13th as a team with a .301 average. Texas A&M sits at 7th with a .318 team batting average.

One Bulldog batter to watch out for? Bevia Robinson. She leads the team with a .448 batting average with 26 hits, 16 runs and a .508 on-base percentage.

How The Aggies Stack Up

To say that the Aggies have found success to start this season is an understatement.

The Texas A&M pitching staff is tenth in the nation in terms of ERA. They are lead by sophomore Samantha Show, who is ranked tenth in the NCAA with a 0.43 season ERA. The Aggies have only allowed 23 runs to score in 20 games so far.

Trinity Harrington joins the top 50 pitchers in terms of ERA, sitting at 0.75 on the year. Junior transfer Lexi Smith continues to wow as well. She has an ERA of 1.58 ERA and 61 strikeouts through 44 innings pitched.

The three of them, as well as freshman reliever Payton McBride, will be a big part of the weekend’s results.

Offensively, the Aggies come in at No. 37 in the NCAA and 7th in the SEC with a team batting average of .318. It will be important for the Aggie offense to score early and often to overcome the strength of Bulldog pitching.

Sophomore Riley Sartain leads the Aggies with a .408 batting average. Sophomore Kaitlyn Alderink leads the team with 25 hits on the season. Junior Kristen Cuyos leads the team with 5 home runs on the season and junior Ashley Walters is the team RBI leader with 18 on the season.

It will be important this weekend and as conference play continues that the offense continues to fire on all cylinders, regardless of score or situation.

The Weekend Schedule

The three-game set will kick off Friday evening from the Aggie Softball Complex. Friday’s first pitch will be at 6pm and can be seen live on SEC Network +. Saturday and Sunday’s contests will be televised on SEC Network, first pitch at 2:30pm and 2pm respectively.

Next: Aggies Baseball Prepares to Host Brown

The Aggies will head to Memphis for a midweek tilt on Tuesday before heading to Ole Miss for their first road series of the year at the conclusion of Spring Break.

***STATS FROM HAIL STATE, AGGIE ATHLETICS, AND NCAA***