Ags emphatically punch ticket to Austin by dominating Texas State

Game #56: #1 Texas A&M 8, #2 Texas State 0 (5 innings)
Records: Texas A&M (43-13, 15-9), Texas State (43-15, 18-6)
WP: Emiley Kennedy (23-10)
LP: Jessica Mullins (31-9)
Box Score

A super Sunday.

No. 16 overall seed Texas A&M punched its ticket to the super regional round of the NCAA Tournament with an 8-0 run-rule of Texas State to win the Bryan-College Station Regional.

Sunshine may have scorched the diamond on a 90-degree Sunday afternoon, but the Aggies brought their own heat to Davis.

In fact, they were so hot that they needed just five innings to burn the Bobcats.

Leading the charge, Emiley Kennedy was on fire.

After pitching a complete game shutout in a 1-0 win over the Bobcats on Saturday afternoon, Kennedy returned to the circle and dished out another goose egg in the run column.

“It begins and ends in the circle,” head coach Trisha Ford said. “To watch Emiley Kennedy this weekend, man, oh man. If I have ever seen an All-American, there it is. That kid was efficient as heck.”

Kennedy retired the first six batters she faced and did not allow a hit until the fourth inning. The Bobcats failed to advance a runner past second base against her.

“Seeing her transform into somebody who I took over and who she is today has been tremendous,” Ford said. “That is her believing in herself. Us having a great team and defense behind her and being able to put runs up for her.”

The bats did, indeed, have Kennedy’s back.

A&M drew blood in the initial inning with a sacrifice fly from Julia Cottrill to score Koko Wooley.

Yet, the second and third innings served as the match to ignite an inferno.

It began with Rylen Wiggins’ 11th bomb of the season to lead off the second frame. Two batters later, Kennedy Powell laced a two-run homer right over the wall to lead 4-0.

This caused Texas State to call to its pen to relieve ace Jessica Mullins, who pitched in four games in three days.

A&M proceeded to keep the runs rolling in the following frame. With nobody on and two outs, Wiggins and Allie Enright hit back-to-back base knocks to put runners on the corners.

Feeling rattled, Texas State pitcher Tori McCann threw four straight balls to put Mya Perez on base. Pinch-hitter Aiyana Coleman interrupted the 12th Man’s chants to plate another run with an RBI single, 6-0.

Two more runs came in thanks to more timely hitting from Powell and Wooley.

Kennedy took care of business from there, stranding three base runners and securing the run rule.

Zoe Kelton, TexAgs

Sunday’s win marks the first time since 2018 that the Aggies are heading to a super regional. 

With the win, the Aggies will head to the Austin Super Regional next weekend to take on No. 1 overall seed Texas.

“I am excited to go to super regionals,” Ford said. “We are back into the underdog view. I love that. That is where we thrive.”

A long-standing rivalry between the schools will be an element to factor in, but the Aggies also ended their season in Austin a year ago.

“I think we are grittier (than last year),” Wiggins said. “We want it more… All of the seniors, in particular, have something really big to play for. The underclassmen are stepping up as well. It will mean a lot of play there with this group of girls.

“We are not ready to stop yet.”

A&M’s next stop on the road to Oklahoma City is not an easy one, but the Aggies believe their brand of softball can hang with anyone in the country, even the nation’s top-ranked team.

“We just have to play Aggie softball,” Powell said. “If we play Aggie softball, we can compete with anybody out there.”