Texas A&M softball kicked off their weekend series with an upset win against No. 2 Alabama, 6-4, on Friday night at the Davis Diamond, snapping their three-game losing streak.
“I don’t know if I’ve ever been happier for one of my ball clubs than I am tonight for these guys,” Texas A&M head coach Jo Evans said. “Our kids have been working hard and they came out and just fought.
“Our pitching staff did a phenomenal job. We did a good job taking advantage of Alabama’s errors and got a couple of runs off their mistakes, but we continued to put pressure on them and get some quality at-bats.”
The Aggies' defense shut Alabama down at the top of the first, setting the momentum for the game.
“I don’t know if I’ve ever been happier for one of my ball clubs than I am tonight for these guys. Our kids have been working hard and they came out and just fought.”
- A&M head coach Jo Evans
Makinzy Herzog slammed her fourth home run of the season in the bottom of the first to give the Aggies an early lead.
Alabama forged ahead in the third inning, capitalizing on an error to score four unearned runs, but in the bottom of the inning, a poor throw and error by the Tide sent Koko Wooley and Haley Lee home to cut the deficit to one.
Two fly-outs and a line out at the top of the fifth stifled the Tide’s progress, preventing them from gaining any more ground as the defense sought to keep them pinned.
In the fifth, Trinity Cannon smashed a two-run double into the right-center wall to pull the Aggies ahead, followed by a single by Morgan Smith to send Cannon home and build a two-run lead.
The sixth inning saw a clutch defensive performance by the Aggies, with catcher Mayce Allen tagging an Alabama player out at home to maintain the lead.
With tensions high at the top of the seventh, the A&M defense sat Alabama down for the last time, acting fast to keep the Tide from gaining any ground.
On the last play of the game, a groundout by third baseman Trinity Cannon clinched the win for Texas A&M.
“It was a sigh of relief. We actually got over this stepping stone, and all of our pitchers played lights-out,” Cannon said. “Our defense stepped up tonight. We finished that game in the seventh inning. That was really good.”
The game set a record for attendance at home, with a total of 2,231 fans attending the contest.
“I’m just really happy our team could perform the way they did so that the crowd could see what this team is all about,” Evans said.
Texas A&M will continue the series against Alabama tomorrow evening, with first pitch slated for 6 p.m. CT.
