Aggie softball sweeps Friday's slate with shutout wins over Lamar, St. John's

Coming into the weekend, the 3-3 Aggies softball team was looking at an opportunity to string together their first winning streak of the season in the form of a double-header, having alternated between wins and losses thus far through the first 6 games of the season. The pitching for the Aggies would put the team on their back, with Makinzy and Kendall Potts both twirling shutouts in both halves.

Game 1: A&M 8, Lamar 0

A slow start on mound in the 1st inning put Makinzy Herzog in a small jam early in the contest with two runners on and only one out, but it would prove to be no match for her as the sophomore pitcher would maneuver the threat without any damage. 

For an offense that early on has struggled to consistently put runs on the board, the scoring came early and often for the Aggies in their first trip up to bat. Herzog would get the Aggies started with a leadoff double, followed by a bunt single by Kelbi Fortenberry. After a walk and a bases-loaded sacrifice fly from Jourdyn Campbell, the Aggies would score two runs on a costly error by the Lamar Cardinals that would have brought the inning to a close. They would take advantage of the miscue, tacking on another three runs to build the lead to six before Lamar could come to bat for the second time.

 “As a team we just came together tonight and everyone did their job and contributed,” said catcher Haley Lee. “We all saw the ball really well. I think as a team one thing leads to another, so if we’re all working in sync, good things are going to happen for us.” 

From then on, the Aggies were in cruise control as Herzog would go on to finish a shutout that was cut short due to an 8-0 run-rule victory. Herzog would allow three hits total, with two coming after the first inning and three innings of hitless baseball sandwiched between them. 

Elisabeth Schmitt, TexAgs

Kendall Potts dominated the second game of the day, allowing just four hits and striking out 9 in the shutout win.

Game 2: Texas A&M 4, St. John’s 0

The second game of the night would flip the script in what would amount to a much more contested match. Both pitchers kept the opponent off the board until Haley Lee opened the scoring up with a two-run HR in the 3rd inning. 

That would prove to be the only run support senior starter Kendall Potts would need as she continued to pitch well into the 5th inning. In the top of the 5th, St. John’s began to see a rally brewing, but with two runners on and one out, an interference call on the advancing second base runner put an end to the rally before it began. 

Texas A&M would go on to double their lead in the bottom half of the 6th inning, giving Potts a four run cushion going into the last inning thanks to an RBI groundout from Payton McBride and an error by St. John’s that would plate another run. Potts would go on to complete the shutout, allowing 4 hits and striking out 9 batters in what would be the second shutout effort of the day for the Aggie softball team. 

It was a great day for the team coming off a tough 1-0 loss to McNeese State, and head coach Jo Evans hopes today will be a turning point in the early season.

“We talk about this consistency and the only way we get to have this consistency and run with it is to come back and still bring that same level of energy and that same aggressive style of play. You can’t come in and out of that and expect to be consistent with wins, so that’s going to be a big point of emphasis for us.”

The Aggies (5-3) will be back at Davis Diamond for Day 2 of the Texas A&M Invitational. They will face Lamar again at 12:15 p.m. and end the day with Binghamton at 3:00 p.m.