Softball: Aggies win two on day one of Texas A&M Invitational
Friday afternoon, the No. 14 Texas A&M softball team defeated Indiana (4-0) and Texas A&M Corpus Christi (13-0), on day one of the Texas A&M Invitational. With the back-to-back victories, A&M's record now sits at 14-1 on the season and 2-0 in the Invitational.
Samantha Show was in the circle for the Aggies in game one against Indiana and thanks to A&M's victorious effort, she continues to lead the nation in wins (9).
In the bottom of the third, with two outs, and freshman Kaitlyn Alderink on at second, Tori Vidales slapped an RBI single to left field, plating Alderink and giving the Aggies the lead.
Indiana was forced to make a pitching change in the bottom of the sixth, when Cali Lanphear kicked things off with a leadoff single to left field, and advanced to second after a sacrifice bunt from Ashley Walters. Then, with one out, April Ryan hit a single to left-center. A trio of RBI singles from Show, Kristen Cuyos and Riley Sartain plated three Aggies, and advanced the Aggies lead to 4-0.
In A&M's next game, Katie Marks only allowed one hit against Texas A&M - Corpus Christi.
In the first inning against A&M Corpus Christi, freshman Keeli Milligan, hit an infield single, stole second and went all the way home on a wild pitch, giving the Aggies a 1-0 lead.
Another freshman, Vidales, hit the first Aggie bomb of the day with a solo-shot to left center field. The home-run was Vidales’ fifth of the season, and pushed the lead to 2-0. With two outs, and Ashley Walters at first, the designated player, Show, delivered a double to center field to send Walters across the plate, giving the Aggies yet another run.
However, the Aggies weren’t done there.
With aggressive baserunning and effective at-bats, the Aggies tacked on five more in the bottom of the second. A ground out from Erica Russell advanced Sartain to second. The first baseman Milligan stroked a single to right field, which advanced Sartain to third, giving Milligan the chance to steal second, which she did.
A double to left-center from Alderink followed and allowed Milligan and Sartain to score, giving A&M the 5-0 lead. Then, a single to right field from Lanphear, sent Vidales to third and scored Alderink. The Aggies continued to grow their lead after a 2 RBI single to right field from Walters sent Lanphear and Vidales across the plate, advancing the Aggies lead to 8-0.
Texas A&M - Corpus Christi had many scoring chances throughout the top of the third, but senior Katie Marks proved to be too much.
Following the fourth inning, It was a matter of time before the run rule went into effect. The Aggies recorded five more runs in the bottom of the inning. With another frame full of HBP, walks and loaded bases the Aggies run-ruled the Islanders, 13-0.
The Aggies will return to the Aggie Softball Complex today to take on UTEP at 3:00 p.m. and Indiana at 5:15 p.m. in day two of the Texas A&M Invitational.
