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Texas A&M Softball

Aggies fall in nine-inning thriller as Texas forces decisive game, 9-8

May 25, 2024
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Game #58: #1 Texas 9, #16 Texas A&M 8 (9 innings)
Records: Texas A&M (44-14, 15-9), Texas (51-8, 23-4)
WP: Mac Morgan (14-1)
LP: Emiley Kennedy (24-11)
Box Score


AUSTIN, Texas — When the Aggies and Longhorns square off, you can always expect drama.

Yet, the dramatics in Saturday's nine-inning affair were unexpected and unhinged, leaving Texas A&M with an unpleasant result.

No. 1 seed Texas outlasted the 16-seeded Aggies in extra innings, 9-8, to even the Austin Super Regional.

"Oh, man," A&M head coach Trisha Ford said. "That was a ballgame. I thought it was a heck of a fight. Very proud of what we did on the field today, what we represented and our ability to keep punching."

"Oh, man. That was a ballgame. I thought it was a heck of a fight. Very proud of what we did on the field today, what we represented and our ability to keep punching."
- A&M head coach Trisha Ford

A steamy May evening saw an up-and-down ballgame with plenty of fight from both clubs.

With Texas leading 8-5 in the seventh, one swing from Mya Perez in the seventh created chaos.

The freshman knocked out her first career home run in the biggest possible moment to tie it up.

Before the three-run blast, A&M was down to its final strike.

"I was super excited for her," Rylen Wiggins said. "I haven't been that excited for someone else in a really long time.”

The massive swing kept the Aggies alive, but A&M's fight ceased in the ninth.

Ashton Maloney scored Texas' ninth run in the final frame, which ended up being the game's winning run.

Way before the late-inning madness, A&M struck first in the second with a two-run bomb from Jazmine Hill. Kennedy Powell added to A&M's lead with an RBI single.

Emiley Kennedy continued her postseason dominance with three more innings of shutout ball before Joley Mitchell laced a solo shot out in the fourth.

Yet, the Aggies remained in full control thanks to another longball from Trinity Cannon to give A&M a 5-1 lead.

However, it was a matter of time before Texas' aggressive offense made things interesting.

Righty Brooke Vestal relieved Kennedy in the circle and saw the immediate damage of a hungry Texas lineup. Kennedy stepped back in, aiming to contain to Longhorns, but back-to-back-to-back singles capped off a five-run sixth inning that featured its own dramatics in the form of an obstruction call against Julia Cottrill.

Texas plated two more in the seventh, yet Perez's big fly evened up the crazy ballgame to send it to extras, where the Ags ultimately fell.

The two rivals will meet again on Sunday at 6:30 p.m. CT on ESPN2 with a trip to the Women's College World Series on the line.

Kay Naegeli, TexAgs
The series is now evened at 1-1. Texas A&M seeks to punch its ticket to the program’s ninth WCWS on Sunday.

"This is the fun," Ford said. "This is what you get addicted to. Seeing young athletes grind it out.

"To see them play at this level, enjoy it and give everything they have, that is something I always remember. They gave every piece of them to this game today. We will have to reload, rest and get ready for tomorrow."

Throwing 254 pitches over the last two days, A&M ace Kennedy could be out there again on Sunday.

After all, Ford described her Game 3 pitching plan as "all hands on deck."

"Lefty will still have some left in the tank," Ford said. "We have some capable arms in the bullpen. We need them to step up tomorrow and get us a win."

In a three-hour, 26-minute ballgame, there was no shortage of excitement and anxiety.

But those Aggie emotions turned to heartbreak in the final moments.

Sunday serves as an opportunity for A&M to make history and claim a spot in Oklahoma City.

Make no mistake, with these two schools facing off, there will be more drama to come. 

Discussion from...

Aggies fall in nine-inning thriller as Texas forces decisive game, 9-8

3,589 Views | 8 Replies | Last: 21 days ago by chrisocker
aggielabel
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AG
What a Game! BTHOtu!
Cojack
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Put these dam Sips in their place today, send em to the house with a loss!
Deerdude
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Amazing that after sip coach exhausted his two reviews unsuccessfully, that suddenly the home umpire had to question his own calls if sip coach suggested it, and reversed them all.

No, not surprised.
rhart
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AG
Sure wish we could see where Mya swing in the last inning would have landed if the sip catcher hadn't interfered with her swing!
Deerdude
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Heads up play by catcher knowing pitcher hung the pitch against dangerous batter.
Kinda like hitting Cannon instead of just walking her.
LatinAggie1997
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AG
Deerdude said:

Amazing that after sip coach exhausted his two reviews unsuccessfully, that suddenly the home umpire had to question his own calls if sip coach suggested it, and reversed them all.

No, not surprised.


This chapped my arse. It was not initiated by blue but by the sips.
The on field call reversed by review in favor of sips also seemed odd. Both announcers and my eyes saw the original call look correct, or at least no indisputable evidence to overturn.

Argentina Aggie
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Today the Aggies will win!
chrisocker
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AG
Very proud of this team! Their resilience is amazing. To be up by several runs just to fall behind in the 7th to then battle back and force extra innings has got to be one of the best examples of grit even if the end result was not the way we wanted the game to go.
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