Texas A&M softball left their first SEC series with three hard-fought wins, sweeping Ole Miss in College Station to start conference play on the right foot.
The Texas A&M Softball team started SEC play out on the right foot. After two weekends in a row where they experienced the bitter feeling of defeat in some very close games, the Aggies turned in an undefeated weekend where they swept Ole Miss behind timely hitting and mostly very, very solid pitching.
At first it was a blowout, then it wasn’t, but it all ended well
In the first game, Texas A&M allowed Ole Miss to get on the board early in the second inning with an RBI single, but the Aggies responded fairly quickly by loading the bases and getting a 2 RBI single from Erica Russell. That made it 2-1 Aggies.
The third inning didn’t have any scoring action, but that’s because the fourth inning more than made up for it. The Aggies got two on, and then Tori Vidales hit a 3-run home run that proved to be a historical event for Aggie Softball. By making the game 5-1, Vidales scored her 191st RBI and became the all-time leader in RBI for the Aggies, passing Meagan May’s 189. Side note: that number will likely increase considerably this season. The Aggies added another run before the end of the fourth.
The fifth inning had its fair share of shenanigans, too. After Erica Russell got a base hit, Keeli Milligan hit her first home run of the season to make it 8-1. The Aggies could have ended the game that inning, but Ole Miss had other plans.
In the sixth and seventh innings, Ole Miss blasted 2 and 3-run home runs, respectively. Needless to say, I puckered up a bit while following the game, but Payton McBride was thankfully able to close it out. Final was 8-6 Aggies. Ole Miss made it really interesting, but that would end up being the only scoring the Rebels did all weekend.
Breaking news: Samantha Show is still really good at softball
For a while, this game looked like it was going to be a pitchers’ duel. The Aggies struck first on a Samantha Show bloop single that scored Sarah Hudek. Two innings later, Riley Sartain hit a solo home run to make it 2-0, which the score stayed at until the bottom of the sixth.
Speaking of Samantha Show, she was the story of the day. Having followed Aggie Softball all season, Show struggled a little more than I’d have liked, giving up early runs in a few contests. Whatever happened in those games didn’t matter in Game 2 against Ole Miss because she returned to her old, dominant self, allowing only three hits while striking out nine, which sits as her season high.
Thanks to Show’s utter dominance in the circle, the Aggies were able to break the game open and run away with it for good in the bottom of the sixth by scoring five runs in the frame. With the 7-0 victory, the Aggies clinched their first SEC series.
Time to open the broom closet
The final game against Ole Miss proved to be an actual pitchers’ duel, but that probably had more to do with the fact that it was a very windy day in College Station. Lexi Smith got the start, pitched a complete game and allowed only two hits to Ole Miss.
The only scoring took place in the bottom of the fifth when the Aggie scored two runs on two outs thanks to some timely hitting from Kristen Cuyos, Erica Russell and Keeli Milligan. That proved to be all the Aggies needed to complete the sweep. With that, the Aggies moved to 24-3 overall and 3-0 in SEC play.
Next: Aggie basketball earns 7-seed in NCAA Tourney
The Aggies return to action on Thursday, kicking off the Reveille Classic against UConn. The Aggies are set to face previously mentioned UConn along with Marist and Michigan State in a 6-game weekend tournament.
***stats and info from 12thman.com***