Softball: Ags wins two on day one of Texas A&M Invitational

COLLEGE STATION — The No. 13 Texas A&M softball team picked up a pair of victories on Friday, defeating the Connecticut Huskies 14-4 in five innings by run-rule and dropping the Wisconsin Badgers 6-1 during day one of the 2014 Texas A&M Invitational. 

With the two wins, A&M head coach Jo Evans sits one victory away from becoming the eighth active Division I coach to reach 1,000 victories in a career.

Matt Sachs, TexAgs A&M head coach Jo Evans is closing in on a career milestone. The longtime A&M head coach is now just one victory away from 1,000.

“I was really pleased with us getting some timely hitting,” said Evans. “Our ball club is hitting really well. Coming into today, they were hitting .320, and I can’t complain about that.”

From the first frame of the day against the Huskies, the Aggies showed their dominance at the plate.

Although A&M is known for simply overpowering their opponents, the Aggies showed they could also play small ball in the bottom of the first inning, scoring six runs on four walks, two HBPs and a pair of singles from shortstop Taran Tyler and Emily Albus to take a commanding 6-0 lead.

After drawing a walk in the first, A&M catcher Nicole Morgan led off the second inning with her sixth homerun of the year, this one to left-center field to push the A&M advantage to 7-0.

If that wasn’t enough offensive production for one game, Morgan went yard again in the third, this time scoring three runs on the bomb. In total, the Aggies put up seven runs during the inning, giving them a daunting 14-0 lead after three.

“I thought we were very patient at the plate,” Evans stated. “We took our RBI any way we could. Sometimes we got hit, sometimes we got walked, but we also stepped up and drove the ball. I’m really pleased with how we handled ourselves offensively.”

At that point, it was simply a matter of time until the run rule went into effect.

The Huskies managed to score four in the top of the fifth off of A&M reliever Lauren Ainsley to make the score 14-4, but couldn’t avoid the premature ending of the game.

Starting pitcher Rachel Fox threw three innings of scoreless ball, giving up four hits and striking out two on her way to the victory.

“Connecticut came out swinging the bat in the first inning, but the fact that Rachel got out of that made a big difference,” stated Evans. “She buckled down and got it done.”

Matt Sachs, TexAgs A&M catcher Nicole Morgan hit two homeruns against Connecticut on Friday to give her a total of seven on the season.

Game two of the day started similar to the first in that the Aggies immediately scored via walks, HBPs and singles. With the bases loaded, A&M right fielder Cassie Tysarczyk drew a walk to score the first run of the game. One batter later, third baseman Amber Garza was nailed by Wisconsin pitcher Cassandra Darrah to make the score 2-0 A&M.

The Badgers scored their only run of the game in the top of the third when a single off the bat of Wisconsin third baseman Michelle Mueller allowed designated hitter Nyah Rodman to cross the plate.

However, A&M answered back.

In the bottom of the frame, first baseman Jenna Stark stroked a single up the middle which allowed Tysarczyk and Tyler to score, giving A&M a 4-1 lead. Later in the inning, a passed ball led to Stark scoring from third.

“We needed to make sure to get Jenna some at-bats,” said Evans. “I couldn’t be happier for the kid. The big difference in the [second] game was her getting up there with two outs and getting a ground ball up the middle to score two runs. That gave us a little cushion.”

Sophomore designated hitter Breanna Dozier hit the third Aggie bomb of the day in the fifth, a solo-shot to left-center field. The homer was Dozier’s second of the season and pushed the lead to 6-1.

Wisconsin had scoring chances throughout the game, but junior transfer Katie Marks’ solid performance in the circle proved to be too much for the Badgers.

Marks finished the day giving up just one earned run on seven hits over her six innings of work. The righty also recorded four strikeouts in the game.

“Katie got in a couple jams, but she did a good job for herself defensively,” said Evans of the South Carolina transfer. “She got some outs when we really needed it. I thought she stayed sharp and did a good job of shutting them down.”

With 999 wins behind her, Saturday could be a historic day for Evans. Evans, who started her career at Colorado State before stopping at Utah and eventually A&M, looks to become one of only a handful of Division I coaches to hit the 1,000 victory plateau.

The Aggies will once again play Wisconsin and Connecticut tomorrow in day two of the Texas A&M Invitational with the game against the Badgers coming at 3:00 p.m. and the contest against the Huskies coming at 5:15.