Ags run-rule Texas State, Peters blanks Princeton in Thursday twin bill
Game #17: No. 5 Texas A&M 9, Texas State 1 (5 innings)
Records: Texas A&M (16-1, 0-0), Texas State (10-4, 0-0)
WP: Grace Sparks (4-0)
LP: Emma Strood (5-1)
Box Score
Game #18: No. 5 Texas A&M 5, Princeton 0
Records: Texas A&M (17-1, 0-0), Princeton (2-3, 0-0)
WP: Sidne Peters (5-0)
LP: Cassidy Shaw (2-1)
Box Score
Softball success keeps on building.
On Day 1 of the Texas A&M Invitational, Trisha Ford & Co. took on Texas State and Princeton in a doubleheader at Davis Diamond, with the Ags adding two more wins to its resume, moving to 17-1 on the season.
Fifth-ranked A&M defeated the Bobcats 9-1 in five innings before Sidne Peters tossed a complete game shutout in a 5-0 victory over the Tigers.
“I thought it was really important for us to come out and execute,” Ford said. “I feel like our lineup has the ability to just be hard. I think that we have so many ways that we can get on base and it’s imperative that we utilize all of those tools if we are going to make a run here in conference.”
Thursday’s opener against Texas State felt like another rendition of the rivalry these two squads have had over the last several seasons, with A&M taking six of the last seven meetings, dating back to 2022.
A&M snagged another with a commanding win led by Grace Sparks in the circle.
Pitching the entirety of the game and earning her fourth win of the season, Sparks tossed 73 pitches and allowed only one earned run off seven hits.
A&M’s offense was hot as Koko Wooley, Kennedy Powell, KK Dement and Kramer Eschete registered a pair of hits. Powell led A&M with three RBIs, followed by Wooley and Dement with two each.
The damage to the Texas State pitching staff began in the third inning when Emma Strood allowed three runs off three hits. Eschete reached base on an infield single, followed by Wooley reaching on a bunt.
Powell drove in the first two A&M runs with a double down the right field line before Mya Perez crushed an RBI single. A fourth run crossed the plate off a Dement single.
“Coach (Ford) is preaching we play Aggie softball no matter who we are playing, so that’s what we are going to continue to do, and we feel like if we continue to stay on that path, and coach calls it the name game, we continue to play Aggie softball, we’ll be successful,” Powell said.
The only run given up by Sparks was allowed in the fourth inning on a Sydney Harvey RBI triple.
In the bottom of the fourth, Wooley added to the scoring with an RBI single before the rest of the Aggies’ runs came in the fifth inning. A solo shot by Dement over the left field fence followed by Wooley reaching on a fielder’s choice to third which scored Frankie Vrazel on a throwing error by the Bobcats third baseman.
Powell’s walk-off single capped A&M's offensive explosion to mark another quality day on offense.
Princeton put up a tougher fight against A&M in Game 2, with its pitching staff giving up only seven hits. A&M’s offense left five runners on base, but it was enough to send the 12th Man home excited for what was to come.
Jumping out to a quick 3-0 lead boosted the Aggies’ confidence at the plate as Powell and Perez recorded four of the seven hits.
The early lead also helped Sidne Peters have her first shutout of the season and have an easier outing in the circle as she struck out eight Tigers and surrendered just five hits.
“The team and environment is, I think, helping me in the best way,” Peters said. “Coach Ford has helped me figure some things out, but also, my defense helps me out a lot.
“They barreled some balls, and I got a little tense, but she came out there and just told me I got good stuff, and I just gotta believe it, so it definitely helped me relax a little bit more and know that I can trust my stuff.”
In the first inning, Amari Harper reached on an error by the Tiger shortstop, which scored Powell before Dement hammered a two-run double to center field. Harper reached base again in the second inning with an RBI single to put the Aggies ahead 4-0.
The fifth run was registered in the fifth inning when Perez singled through the right side.
Next up for the Aggies will be a Friday matchup against George Washington at Davis Diamond. First pitch is set for 7 p.m. CT.