Gig Em Gazette
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Texas A&M Softball: Aggies Open SEC Play with Series Win

By Shelbie Warr

Aug 3, 2016; Huntington Beach, CA, USA; OC Batbusters player Mallory McCrane dives back into third on an attempted pick off against the Birmingham Thunderbolts at Huntington Beach Sports Complex. Mandatory Credit: Kelvin Kuo-USA TODAY Sports
Aug 3, 2016; Huntington Beach, CA, USA; OC Batbusters player Mallory McCrane dives back into third on an attempted pick off against the Birmingham Thunderbolts at Huntington Beach Sports Complex. Mandatory Credit: Kelvin Kuo-USA TODAY Sports /
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Despite a Friday loss and a Saturday rain delay, Texas A&M Softball found a way to come out of the weekend with a series win vs. Mississippi State to kick off SEC play.

Aggie Softball has had a hot start to the season. That start, despite a slight falter on Friday night, has continued through the first weekend of conference play. The ladies in Maroon and White outscored Mississippi State 10-7 on the way to a 2-1 weekend record. This is good for 3rd place in the current SEC standings.

Pitching Highs and Lows

Sophomore pitcher Samantha Show struggled a bit on Friday night, especially in comparison to her recent outings. Show took her first loss of the season, giving up 4 runs on 11 hits through 4.1 innings pitched. Her season ERA increased to 0.92 following the performance. Junior Lexi Smith pitched the final 2.2 innings in relief, giving up an unearned run on 3 hits.

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Junior Trinity Harrington took the mound to begin Saturday’s match. She pitched 5 innings, giving up 1 run on 2 hits. Her outing was cut short due to a weather delay that suspended the game until the following morning. She did earn the win for this matchup though, improving her season record to 5-1 and putting her ERA at 0.85.

Once again, Lexi Smith came in to relieve. She pitched the final 2 innings of the suspended game on Sunday morning, shutting out the Bulldogs allowing only one hit.

Lexi Smith was also the starter for the final game of the set, in which she pitched the full 7 innings. She allowed 3 hits on the afternoon along with 1 unearned run in the series finale. She is now 7-0 with an ERA of 1.25.

Just Enough of the Aggie Offense

Over the course of the weekend, the Aggies hung 10 runs on the Mississippi State Bulldogs. While it wasn’t their biggest weekend of the year. Yet it was just enough to take two out of three from a conference foe.

Friday was a seemingly slow night for the ladies, ending in a loss for Texas A&M- their second of the year. The night wasn’t without it’s highlights though. Junior slugger Tori Vidales launched her fourth homer of the season in the 3rd inning of the 5-2 loss.

Mississippi State sent their ace, Alexis Silkwood, to the mound on Saturday into Sunday morning. Despite a strong pitching performance on her part, an error filled afternoon by the Bulldogs put her in the losing column. Of the five runs scored by the Aggies only one was considered earned. This game was a story of taking advantage of opportunity and the ladies did so, winning 5-1.

Sunday’s game was a story of doing just enough to come out victorious. The Aggies took a 1-0 lead in the first when Kristen Cuyos worked a bases loaded walk to score Ashley Walters. Sarah Hudek extended the Aggie lead by 2 with a big fly to left center in the 3rd. The Aggies would win this one 3-1.

What’s Next?

The Aggies will head to Memphis for a midweek tuneup on Tuesday. The game will begin at 5:30 and will not be televised. Following that, the Aggies will head to Ole Miss to open SEC play for the Rebels. Ole Miss checks in at No. 17 in the NCAA softball rankings with a 20-3 record.

***STATS FROM AGGIE ATHLETICS***