Aggie Softball splits Wednesday doubleheader against Sam Houston State
On Wednesday afternoon, Texas A&M Softball (12-6) hosted the Sam Houston State Bearkats (7-10), splitting the doubleheader at Davis Diamond. The Aggies took game one on a walk off after the offense finally heat up late in the game. In game two, the Aggie bats couldn’t compensate for the struggling defense, resulting in a 6-3 loss.
Coming off a successful weekend in California against highly ranked competition, this young team had showed increased maturity and growth that wasn’t displayed in the midweek contest.
“There wasn’t any facet of our game we really did [well] tonight,” reflected a disappointed coach Jo Evans.
Game One: Texas A&M, 4-3
Despite the win, the Aggies had a tough time handling the struggling Sam Houston State team. The offensive action didn’t begin until the sixth inning, as it was a 0-0 pitching battle at Davis Diamond. Kayla Poynter had a stellar start, lasting 6 1/3 innings and surrendering zero earned runs.
The Bearkats finally drew first blood as an error in left field crossed the first run of the afternoon, but Poynter controlled the damage and pitched out of the inning.
The Texas A&M offense responded with a three-run sixth. Makinzy Herzog led off with a single followed by an infield single off the bat of Morgan Smith, putting the Aggies in business. Ultimately, Herzog crossed the plate on a wild pitch to end the Texas A&M scoring drought. Despite a strong wind, Jourdyn Campbell sent one over the centerfield wall to give the Aggies a two-run lead going into the top of the seventh.
The Aggie lead was short-lived; the Bearkats threatened with a bases-loaded, one out situation to knock Poynter out of the game. Kendall Potts entered the circle, striking out the first batter she saw. A ground ball to short should have ended the game, but an error and kept the Bearkats alive.
Kelbi Fortenberry led off the bottom of the seventh with a single and took no time stealing second. She advanced to third on a groundout, 60 feet away from home. A sharply hit ground ball to first created a close play on the throw home, but the speed of Fortenberry resulted in an Aggie walk-off win. However, a seven inning 4-3 win was a bit too close for comfort for the Aggies.
Game Two: Sam Houston State, 6-3
After a decent defensive outing in game one, sloppy play by Texas A&M put the Aggies in a hole that a struggling offense couldn’t climb out of. Totaling only four hits, the Aggies dropped game two 6-3 in an all-around frustrating contest.
Aggressive baserunning by Herzog in the first inning resulted in the first run, and she was later responsible for an RBI base knock to score Ashlynn Walls.
The Aggies scored a run off an error to take a temporary 3-2 lead, but a pair of RBI singles to center erased the lead and the Aggie defense was later plagued by a pair of errors.
The Bearkats took a 6-3 lead through its half of the fifth inning, while the Aggies couldn’t earn anything back in a no-out, bases loaded situation. Later in the bottom half of the sixth, the Aggies stranded another three runners with two outs.
“We had 13 free passes and we stranded 12 runners,” said Coach Evans. “We certainly had our opportunities defensively, [but we] made three errors, [had] three unearned runs and didn’t pitch [well].”
Next Up:
1-1 on the day is not what the Aggies had hoped for, but they are looking ahead to hosting Southeastern Louisiana and Kansas in the Reveille Classic over the weekend.
“Don’t look in the past, just keep moving forward. It’s already over, so we’re just going to keep going day by day,” said senior centerfielder Kelbi Fortenberry.
Game one is Friday night against Southeastern Louisiana, with first pitch set for 5:15 p.m.