Softball: Aggies claim series over Missouri with a 4-3 walkoff victory

COLLEGE STATION – On Friday, the 15^th ranked Missouri Tigers crushed the 13^th ranked Texas A&M Aggies, 7-0. On Saturday, the Aggies pulled the revenge card by run-ruling the Tigers, 11-2. So we had two straight blowouts to begin SEC play. 

So, naturally, this rubber match went down to extra innings, with the Aggies taking home the narrow 4-3 victory.

Today’s pitching matchup was the same matchup as Friday’s blowout win by Missouri, Rachel Fox vs. Tori Finucane.  There was a couple pitching storylines that transpired throughout the game. After giving up the three-run homer, Rachel Fox was pulled in favor of Katie Marks, the Aggies ace who has yet to lose on the season. She pitched fantastically in relief and eventually picked up the win. Missouri’s Tori Finucane was phenomenal in Friday’s game, and started today well, but in the second inning, took a line drive right to the ankle/shin area and went down immediately. She looked to be in a lot of pain and pitched the rest of the game in noticeable pain and could be seen limping a few times out of the circle.

After falling in a 3-0 hole in the top of the 3^rd inning because of a three-run homer by Missouri, the Aggies wasted no time responding. First baseman Jenna Stark knocked a single off the wall, and the inning stayed alive with an error to put April Ryan on base. That set up a bomb from Nicole Morgan to tie up the game within in the inning.

Matt Sachs, TexAgs Nicole Morgan added to her home run total this season with a three-run shot to tie the game in the 3rd inning. {"Module":"photo","Alignment":"left","Size":"large","Caption":"Nicole Morgan added to her home run total this season with a three-run shot to tie the game in the 3rd inning.","MediaItemID":33282}

Beside the 3^rd inning, there was no other scoring the rest of the entire regular innings, and then we reached extras. In the bottom of the 8^th inning, Emily Albus was able to reach third base through steals and grounders, and with two outs Cassie Tysarczyk smashed one to left field.

“Two outs, big opportunity, and she just got out there and scorched the ball,” Coach Jo Evans said of the final play. “Sykes came out of nowhere. First we thought the ball was going out of the yard, and then she almost made the play of her career. That was a great effort, but it was great to see Cassie get a big RBI.”

The single ended the game, and gave the Aggies a 2-1 series victory over the Missouri Tigers. This was the first SEC series for both teams, so it was nice for the Aggies to begin SEC play over .500.

“Definitely a gut check [on Friday],” Evans said of her team. ‘That’s the difference in our ball club, this year and last year. A year ago, we may not have handled it as well. We may have felt devastated by a loss like that. We understood that there were lessons to learn from that. To beat such a good team that expects to win all their games is a really big deal for us.”

The Aggies will continue play Wednesday with a one game stint against College of Charleston. They will continue SEC play soon after with a series against the South Carolina Gamecocks next weekend.