Texas A&M Softball: Aggies turn in another perfect weekend
By John Tee
Texas A&M softball fought through some intense moments to maintain their perfect record after a 4-0 weekend in Aggieland.
There were some tense moments and breezy ones, but at the end of it, Aggie Softball remained undefeated after the Texas A&M Invitational (technically … and I’ll get to that). In all, the maroon and white played five games, but only four of those counted. Still, they won all the contests that mattered.
A boat racing
Friday’s games showcased the dominance that the Aggies will unleash upon the college softball world. With Maddie McGrandle pitching in Game 1 and Trinity Harrington pitching in Game 2, the biggest story of the day was the mere fact that Tori Vidales managed not one but two grand slams, one in each game. I’ll leave it at that.
The result was a 5-inning, 10-1 drubbing of Butler and a 7-0 rout of Tulsa. The offense in the Tulsa game took a little while to get going but when it did, good night, sweet Golden Hurricanes.
Not a boat racing but it all worked out
Saturday’s games had a little more tension. I was across the street at Olsen Field for what ended up being a game to remember, so I had to get my updates on Twitter. Maddie MacGrandle started again, against Iowa, while Lexi Smith started against Tulsa.
Iowa actually led that game for the majority of it, but some late game heroics by Ashley Walters, Payton McBride and Kylie George tied it, 2-2. Correct me if you’ve heard this before, but Tori Vidales ended it with a walkoff home run in the 7th, making the final score 3-2.
Behind Lexi Smith in the circle, the Aggies then blanked Tulsa again, 6-0.
What did I just watch?
Sunday was … interesting, for lack of a better word. First of all, I was there. I sat with third baseman Kaitlyn Alderink’s parents. Trinity Harrington got the start, but that didn’t last. Butler ended up scoring like four or five runs with her in the circle, but I noticed that she had a coughing fit fairly early. Some of the softball parents I sat with said she had a bout of bronchitis.
Coach Jo Evans then went to the bullpen for Payton McBride. It was obvious that Trinity wasn’t fully healthy, but the normally dominant McBride just couldn’t find the strike zone. The fielding team also suffered from an extremely rare sloppy day with a few errors. By the end of it, a combination of errors and poor officiating made it 9-0 Butler.
But that was fine because the home plate umpire just couldn’t call a consistent strike zone for either team. In the first inning, the Aggies must have scored about four runs from bases-loaded walks in addition to the RBI that were scored. By the end of it, Butler burned through two pitchers and the Aggies made it 9-6.
The next two innings were scoreless, and all of the previously mentioned events were rendered moot because the game had a drop dead time of 2:15 p.m. due to the Butler softball team having to catch a scheduled flight. Had the game gone at least five innings, the result at that point would have counted, but the Aggies didn’t even make it through their half, leaving the bases loaded with 1 out.
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As Linkin Park once said, in the end, it doesn’t really matter. The other fans at the softball complex and I were glad that our Aggies remained undefeated in spite of it all. However, if the game had been allowed to play out, I’m confident the Aggies would have eventually come out on top and still remained undefeated, even with possibly the worst home plate umpire I’ve ever seen officiating the game.
Next up is Lamar on Tuesday at 5 p.m.
***stats and information from 12thman.com***