Five-run sixth lifts No. 12 A&M to 9-4 rubber match win over Alabama

Game #42: No. 12 Texas A&M 9, No. 13 Alabama 4
Records: Texas A&M (33-9, 12-6), Alabama (30-10, 7-8)
WP: Emiley Kennedy (16-7)
LP: Kayla Beaver (14-4)
Box Score

In a hotly contested three-game set, No. 12 Texas A&M claimed a hard-earned road series in Tuscaloosa over No. 13 Alabama.

After being shutout in a 2-0 loss on Saturday, the Aggies responded with a 17-6 whopping on Sunday.

And in the rubber match, the Maroon & White defeated the Crimson Tide at Rhoads Stadium, 9-4, despite a slow start in the first few innings on Monday night.

Both teams remained scoreless through three innings, and it became difficult to see which would strike first.

Here’s a hint: it was A&M.

The Tide made four errors in Monday’s game, which allowed multiple runs for the Aggies.

Of the nine they scored, A&M earned just five of them.

A&M scored its first two runs in the fourth inning on a throwing error by right fielder Kendal Clark, following a fly-out in foul territory off the bat of Allie Enright.

Emiley Kennedy got the start in the circle for A&M, allowing three hits and one run while striking out six. She pitched until the fourth when head coach Trisha Ford relieved her for Brooke Vestal. 

Struggling with command, Vestal was charged with three runs in the bottom of the fourth. 

Ford turned to a third arm in Shaylee Ackerman to try and stop the bleeding, but a single from Kali Heivilin plated two runs before the Aggies could work out of the jam as the Tide took a shortlived 3-2 lead.

Kelly Cothern, TexAgs

Jazmine Hill boosted her RBI total to 35 on the season with the run-scoring groundout. 

An inning later, A&M jumped back out in front with an RBI single from Kramer Eschete and another run coming across on a groundout from Jazmine Hill.

With the Aggies back in front, Kennedy returned to the ballgame and pitched the remainder of the three innings, but not before allowing Alabama to knot it up once again via a fifth-inning wild pitch.

However, the A&M offense had Kennedy’s back.

In the five-run sixth inning that saw the Aggies pull away, Aiyana Coleman and Amari Harper drove in a pair of runs with a couple of singles. Harper scored the fifth marker due to yet another Alabama error.

Leading 9-4, the Aggies kept the Tide quiet in the seventh to secure the series.

Following an important SEC road trip, the Aggies will head to Denton on Wednesday to face North Texas. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. CT.