Softball: Aggies fall to Georgia in Sunday's SEC rubber match

COLLEGE STATION – On Sunday’s rubber match in a key SEC matchup, the fourteenth ranked Georgia Bulldogs defeated the fifteenth ranked Texas A&M Aggies 4-2 to win the series 2-1.

The scoring started very similar to how it did on Georgia’s victory on Friday. Leadoff hitter Anna Swafford wasted no time against Katie Marks and took her first pitch of the third inning deep into center. On Friday, she took Marks’ first pitch of the game past the fences to start the scoring then as well.

The Aggies recovered to tie the game at one a piece after some heads up base running from Brittany Clopton after she singled. She scored on an error after Donnell hit a pitch right back to the pitcher who overthrew her catcher trying to get the force on Clopton at home.

Matt Sachs, TexAgs Texas A&M coach Jo Evans looks on as her team quickly lost their momentum Sunday against Georgia. {"Module":"photo","Alignment":"left","Size":"large","Caption":"Texas A\u0026M coach Jo Evans looks on as her team quickly lost their momentum Sunday against Georgia.","MediaItemID":33227}

Just as quickly as the Aggies had gained the momentum, they lost it. Georgia’s Geri Ann Glasco wasted no time hitting a solo home run off of Katie Marks to reclaim the lead, and they never lost it again. A couple more runs in the sixth extended the Bulldog’s lead and another Clopton run would make the final tally 4-2.

“They get two solo shots and they hit them both well out and I thought our team fought hard to come back,” Coach Jo Evans recapped. “The difference in the game is giving up three free passes and some timely hits.”

Next up for the Aggies is a trip to Fayetteville to take on the Arkansas Razorbacks. They don’t have a mid-week game this week, so Evans talked about what they can work on this week with the time off.

“We can be more aggressive at the plate,” Evans said of future adjustments coming up. “I think we take a lot of early strikes in the count which doesn’t bode well for us. I think we need to be ready to hit and be more tenacious at the plate and string some hits together.”

Some quick thoughts to wrap up the weekend:

Although she struggled today, Jenna Stark has been strong since SEC play began. The senior is hitting right around .261 in conference play after really struggling earlier on in the season. On the season she is still only hitting .203, so that is pretty indicative of how much she has turned her season around. She is also second on the team in RBI’s with five since SEC play began, trailing only Nicole Morgan.

Katie Marks is no longer perfect on the season. She began the season with 11 wins, and that streak ended today as she left the game down 2-1 and the Aggies never recovered to take the lead.

It appears Brittany Clopton has taken over starting at left field for the time being. Cali Lanphear has struggled so far at the plate this season, and Clopton turned in another impressive day today with a single and a triple, scoring both runs for the Aggies today.

Speaking of the schedule, when looking at the current USA Today/NFCA Coaches rankings, the Aggies have already played #7 Arizona, #17 Nebraska, #18 Missouri, #19 Tulsa, and now #14 Georgia. Unfortunately, it doesn’t get any easier. #1 Florida, #4 Tennessee, #8 Kentucky, and #21 Auburn are up soon on the schedule, as well as Arkansas, who is up next, receiving votes as well.