Aggies run-rule Purdue as 'Lefty' keeps no-no on scorekeeping oddity

Game #6: No. 7 Texas A&M 11, Purdue 0 (5 innings)
Records: Texas A&M (6-0, 0-0), Purdue (2-4, 0-0)
WP: Emiley Kennedy (3-0)
LP: Julia Gossett (0-2)
Box Score

Opening week for No. 7 Texas A&M went as planned, adding six wins to its resume at Davis Diamond as it exited the Aggie Classic undefeated at 6-0.

The unbeaten weekend ended with Sunday’s 11-0 run-rule win over Purdue that saw Emiley Kennedy toss a five-inning no-hitter.

All told, A&M’s Aggie Classic showing consisted of two come-from-behind wins against Utah State and No. 19 Baylor, with four wins against Abilene Christian, Villanova and Purdue.

“We’re starting to mold and gel together,” A&M head coach Trisha Ford said. “When we play clean defense and we pitch well, we’re gonna be in every game.”

Making her third appearance this season, Kennedy improved on a 2025 debut that saw her allow two runs on four hits with eight strikeouts. In Sunday’s five-inning affair, “Lefty” punched out two Boilermakers and gave up only two walks in a game with a unique ending.

She acknowledged what was working in her game postgame.

“I think it was just working on my speeds getting where they needed to be, and whenever they got to where they needed to be is when I started to see it start rolling,” Kennedy said.

The 15th and final out of Kennedy’s no-hitter came on a weakly-hit ground ball to second base that hit Kylie Franks. In the NCAA Softball rulebook, rule 12.17 allows the official scorer to judge whether the play would’ve been a hit or likely resulted in an out, and in this case, a fielder’s choice ended Sunday’s proceedings.

Offensively, the Aggies recorded seven hits off the Boilermakers’ pitching staff, with Mac Barbara getting the big swing in the second inning. Her grand slam powered over the right field fence and scored Koko Wooley, Kramer Eschete and Frankie Vrazel.

“I kinda just saw it and took it where it needed to go,” Barbara said. “I couldn’t let that ball go because I would be yelled at.”

Barbara drove in five of A&M’s 11 runs, going 2-for-4 in the process. Kennedy Powell, Allie Enright and Wooley also added to the hit column with one a piece.

“I think in the first game, the momentum brought into the second game, and that’s what helped us go five innings with Purdue,” Barbara said.

After the four-run second, A&M scored one more in the third on Powell’s RBI fielder’s choice.

With A&M leading 5-0 entering the bottom of the fourth, Purdue’s defense imploded as the Boilermakers committed three errors in the frame.

Enright’s sacrifice fly was dropped in left field as Olivia Johnson and Hailey Golden both scored on the play. With the bases loaded, a throw home by Purdue’s shortstop got away and allowed Enright and Vrazel to score.

Powell added an RBI groundout before Barbara capped the game with an RBI single.

Taryn Wright, TexAgs

Mac Barbara finished the weekend with three home runs, seven hits and 13 RBIs.

Of A&M’s 11 runs, only five were earned.

The Maroon & White allowed Kennedy to go deep in the game, and Ford credited her defense all week. 

“Defense is huge,” Ford said. “The old saying is defense wins championships. Obviously, in our game, pitching and defense are gonna be things that are imperative. I’d put our defense up against anybody in the nation. “

Next up, A&M will head to the Sunshine State for the Shriners Children’s Clearwater Invitational beginning on Thursday, Feb. 13, against Wichita State.

Postgame, the oddity that was the 15th out was debated and ultimately changed from a hit to a fielder’s choice, allowing Kennedy to maintain the 31st no-hitter in program history since 2000.

The senior All-American left-hander now has two individual no-hitters to her credit as well as a combined no-hitter with Emily Leavitt last April.

A&M’s record book does not exclude five-inning no-hitters.

In the 2025 NCAA Softball Rules Book, rule 12.17 provides the official scorer with the ability to judge base running interference before awarding a hit.

Rule 12.17 is included below:

12.17 Interference
Interference is an act that denies a defensive player a reasonable opportunity to make a play (field/throw) anywhere on the playing field. The act may be intentional or unintentional, and the ball must have been playable. Interference may be caused by individual offensive players (batter, on-deck batter, batter runner, base runner), coaches, umpires, nongame personnel or spectators, by the offensive team as a whole or by loose equipment that belongs to them.

EFFECT—As a general rule, when on-deck batter, batter-runner, base runner or coach interference occurs: (1) the ball becomes dead, (2) an out is called, and (3) each runner not put out prior to the interference must return to the last base that, in the umpire’s judgment, was legally touched at the time of the interference, except when forced to go to the next base because the batter became a batter-runner. If the batter runner has not touched first base at the time of the interference, each base runner shall return to the base legally occupied at the time of the pitch. When a base runner(s) is called out for interference with a batted ball, the batter runner is awarded first base. If the official scorer judges the batted ball would have been a hit, the batter is credited with a base hit, but if not, it is scored as a fielder’s choice.