Aggie Softball cruises into Super Regional with win over Texas, 3-1

It’s long been said that bigtime players make bigtime plays in bigtime games, and today's College Station Regional final was the biggest of the year for the Aggie softball team.

Luckily for the Aggies, two of the teams biggest players, Tori Vidales and Samantha Show, came up huge in Texas A&M's 3-1 victory over the Texas Longhorns, helping the program advance to the NCAA Super Regionals.

Show didn’t necessarily get off to the start she wanted in the game. After walking the Longhorn lead-off hitter Mickenzi Krpec in the second, she proceeded to give up a single that put runners on the corners with only one out.

The next batter up for Texas, Kaitlyn Washington, hit an RBI-groundout to second, scoring the run from third and putting Texas ahead, 1-0. That ended up being the only run Show would allow on the day. She finished with a line of 7.0 IP, four hits, one run, and two strikeouts – all while throwing only 89 pitches.

At the plate for Texas A&M, the bats stayed hot as they’ve been all weekend. Three players tallied multi-hit games in the regional final, including lead-off hitter Keeli Milligan and nine-hole hitter Erica Russell.

But when it came down to it on Sunday, the role of run-producer fell to junior first baseman Tori VIdales, and she didn’t disappoint.

After Show’s struggles in the bottom of the second inning, Vidales led off the third with a solo home run to right center field with the wind blowing in to knot the game back up, 1-1.

Vidales wasn't done at the plate.

She came up in another huge spot later in the game – this time with the bases loaded in the fourth inning.

This time, the Aggie star laced a double three-quarters of the way up the wall in left-center, scoring two to give the Aggies a 3-1 lead.

“I think its always important to have a good day. For me, being able to feel comfortable going into supers is nice. I’m ready to take on Tennessee,” said Vidales.

That was all the run support Show and the Aggie defense needed.

The Aggies' defensive highlight came in the ninth on a one-out shoestring catch by left fielder Keeli Milligan in the seventh. The Longhorn hitter, Tuesday DerMargosian, sent the second pitch of her at-bat on a line to shallow left. On a dead sprint, Milligan stuck out her glove and picked the ball off her feet to record the out.

Show got a ground ball to Vidales at first to end the game later in the seventh, punching the Aggies' ticket to the Super Regionals.

“I couldn’t be happier for our ball club. We fought all year long for this. To play well in front of the 12th Man means everything for us,” said A&M head coach Jo Evans.

Next for Texas A&M, it’s back to Knoxville, Tennessee, where the Aggies just played in the SEC Tournament. A&M will take on the eighth-seeded Tennessee Volunteers. This time, there won’t be an SEC title on the line – just a trip to the Women’s College World Series.