Softball: No. 10 Aggies sweep double-header against Georgia Southern
College Station: The No. 10 Texas A&M softball team fought hard to take both of Tuesday’s doubleheader games against Georgia Southern, 13-10, and 3-2 at the Aggie Softball Complex.
The Ags took an early lead in the bottom of the first inning of game one, scoring two against Georgia Southern.
Lead-off hitter Keeli Milligan made it to third on an error by the Eagles. Kaitlyn Alderink came through for Milligan with a sacrifice fly ball, which plated the Vidor, Texas native. A single from Kristen Cuyos to center field advanced the runners and plated Vidales.
Back-to-back walks loaded bases for the Ags, not once, but twice, scoring freshman Samantha Show.
The Georgia Southern Eagles rallied in the third inning, taking the lead, 5-3. An RBI single from Lydia Witkowski plated one early, before Taylor Rogers made it to first on a bunt, loading the bases with no outs. A double from Emily Snider scored two runners, tying the game, 3-3. A single to right center drove in two more for the Eagles, giving them the lead at 5-3.
The Aggies and Eagles both earned one run in the fourth, but the Aggies controlled the fifth and sixth innings, when they scored a combined 8 runs, including Alderink’s first career grand slam.
Samantha Show (2.70 ERA) started things in the circle in game one for the Aggies, throwing 102 pitches and 65 of them for strikes, but was relieved by Katie Marks (2.22 ERA), in the top of the fourth inning. Marks threw 49 pitches, including 28 strikes
The second game didn't go in either the Aggies or Eagles favor until the fifth inning when the Eagles were able to put two across.
A change had to be made to keep the Eagles from scoring again in the top of the fifth, that's when Show stepped in for Kayla Ober (3.62 ERA) and ended the inning with a quick strike out.
The Aggies tied the game 2-2 in the sixth after shortstop Kristen Cuyos drew a walk before Ashley Walters knocked her third homerun of the season over the left field wall.
The Aggies had a chance to take the lead in the bottom of the sixth when they were presented with a two-out opportunity. With runners in scoring position and Alderink at the plate, A&M failed to break the tie against the Eagles.
The defense took to the field to keep the Eagles from scoring the the top of the seventh, giving the Aggies a chance to take over the bottom of the seventh.
Which they did.
Cali Lanphear drew a walk, stole second, and advanced to third due to an error made by the Eagles second baseman. Then, Cuyos singled to left field to send Lanphear across the plate to give the Aggies the 3-2 win in walk-off fashion.
With these two hard fought games behind them, the Aggies will open up SEC play against No. 4 LSU at the Aggie Softball Complex starting Friday at 6:30 p.m.
