Aggie softball opens Reveille Classic with run-rule loss to Southeastern Louisiana

In a season full of ups and downs so far, the Aggies certainly experienced a low point tonight. The Southeastern Louisiana Lions were able to capitalize on all of the Aggies’ mistakes throughout the game, downright outplaying the home team and securing an 8-0 win. 

The play for A&M was somewhat abysmal on both offense and defense. The Aggies were out-hit by the Lions 7-6 and committed multiple egregious mistakes on defense that played a huge part in the loss. While there were only two official errors, SLU was able to take advantage many times due to poor fielding, bad decisions and mistimed throws from the Ags. 

The damage started right out of the gate, as the Lions were able to score in the first after a few sac-bunts and a single to left. It didn't stop there, as a triple in the 4th inning brought home another run for the away team. It all unraveled in the 5th, as a mistake by the shortstop, passed ball by the catcher and a walk quickly loaded the bases for the Lions. A long double over Fortenberry’s head in center field brought home two more, and the throw home from the pitcher passed the catcher, bringing home one more.

Jamie Maury, TexAgs

The Aggies left 12 runners in scoring position in the loss.

Meanwhile, the Aggies had left a considerable amount of runners on base, never taking advantage of runners in scoring position to that point. The end of the game would see 12 Aggie runners left in scoring position. 

A few more mistakes (that should have been easy outs) from the Aggie defense in the sixth led to another bases loaded situation with no outs. This was followed up by a few sacrifice ground outs, and the Lions quickly led the Maroon and White by a comfortable 8 runs. Indicative of the whole game, the home team was unable to get anything going in the home half of the 6th. This would result in the Aggie team getting run-ruled on their home turf to start off the weekend. 

The lackluster performance forces coach Jo Evans to remotivate her team for the rest of the long weekend. 

“We had so many opportunities early on,” said Coach Evans. “My message (to the team) is we need to do a better job of keeping our composure. There shouldn’t be a difference in whether it was Arizona or whether it was Southeastern Louisiana. We need to do a much better job of just managing what’s happening at that moment in the game.” 

What was most likely the most disappointing loss of the season so far came just a week after the Aggies’ biggest win, a 7-6 win over No. 5 Arizona. This team has been quite inconsistent as well as underwhelming and will need to find some rhythm soon with SEC play just around the corner. 

The Ags will have a chance to rebound as game two of the series against Southeastern Louisiana takes place tomorrow at 1:15 p.m.