Ford's Ags are 'amped' for this weekend's top-five showdown at Davis

At 20-2 on the year, No. 4 Texas A&M begins its Southeastern Conference slate on Friday as No. 3 Florida comes to Davis Diamond for a three-game set. On Wednesday morning, head coach Trisha Ford joined TexAgs Live to set the stage for the top-five series in Aggieland.

Key notes from Trisha Ford interview

• I'm not feeling bad about last weekend. There are some things I think we still need to address, but I did like the way that we fought. Again, another tough weekend, but we definitely understand where we need to go in order to keep getting better.
   
• The No. 3 team, Florida, is heading to Aggieland this weekend. I think we're prepared. Both of our losses, it was things that we could control. Whether that was executing some pitches, playing clean defense, or better at-bats, there are some things that we definitely know we were in control of that we didn't execute. When it's going to be your first time playing a highly-ranked team without all of those reps, you feel a little unprepared. Our team is confident, and they've had all of those reps against teams in which you make any of those critical errors, things will go sideways fast.
   
• I'm excited. The 12th Man this past weekend was electric. We'll be ready.
   
• This year, you've seen us win in a multitude of ways. Whether it's the top of our lineup, we've talked about this middle, our short game, our speed, our athleticism, sometimes it's in the long ball. Last year, I felt like we were banging, and everything was clicking on all cylinders. This year, I feel like we've found ways to work through them. To me, that says a lot because you know that any part of your lineup can help kickstart things.
   
• In the circle, Emiley Kennedy has done really well for us this year. She would probably tell you that she'd like to get a little bit better, and the season is still young. We have some depth there, where I felt like we didn’t last year and the year before.
   
• Defensively, it wasn't as perfect of a weekend as I would've wanted. It's kind of the pace of the game, and that's what we talked about. There is a speed to the game where you have to be quick, but you shouldn't be hurried. We got rushed a little bit, and when you get rushed and don't have good pre-pitch, things get really fast, and you move at that speed. For me, it's honing in on those simple things. It's never anything big. Honing in on those as a group, so if we get into situations and don't know what's going on, calling timeout, somebody has to take over that infield.
   
• Against Texas Tech at the bottom of the third, Allie Enright struck out but had another chance to bat. We have some things in place, some checkpoints because I've made mistakes before, but we've been able to catch other teams. Basically, Texas Tech forgot to sub in the pitcher. Any play that involved the pitcher becomes null and void. When Enright struck out, it was Halle Harger who caught it. I went to the umpire and said, "Hey, have they subbed in the pitcher?" They said, "No," so she got to do it again. We got a couple more swings out, which is good because you always want to wear out those pitchers.
   
• No. 3 Florida vs. No. 4 A&M, this is the first top-five matchup since the rankings began. To be the head coach at a time like this, I'm very honored to be here, and I love this place, but that's my job. I came here to put out the best product we can, so let's go rumble. For me, it's more about executing. We've gotten to this place because we've been where our feet are, and we'll just continue.
   
• The fan support has been electric. When I took this job, they said, "Hey, if you put a good product out there, the 12th Man, they love the bat and ball sports." I'm trying to live up to that and uphold my end of the deal, and I think the 12th Man is doing a tremendous job. Aggieland is a very special place. When you really get the fan support and you get the interaction, it makes it a very unique experience.
   
• It's different here. Funny story, when I was at Stanford as an assistant, I came here. A&M was extremely different at that time. It was like in the middle of nowhere. It feels a lot more hustle and bustle now. I got to experience the 12th Man on the other side. I didn't love it, but I also respected it. I feel like it's very different now. They're more interactive. It makes our facility different and full of life. I want it to be hard for teams to come out here and win, and I think they are literally the 12th Man.
   
• Florida ranks No. 1 in batting average, No. 2 in slugging and No. 2 in scoring, averaging 9.29 runs a game. We will have to keep those bats quiet as much as we can. Kendra Falby has reached base every game this year so far. Speed doesn't have an off day, right? That's the beauty of it. They have a freshman kid that's tearing it up. They have Jocelyn Erickson. They have some other pieces that are obviously doing a great job. However, every swing has a hole. It's whether or not we can consistently hit that hole and change speed. The good thing is we have a lot of different looks, so they're going to have to prep for six pitchers, and we're going to make it a nightmare.
   
• Sydney Lessentine won SEC Freshman of the Week. Honestly, she is growing up. She's starting to understand some things and why I get on her in certain situations. She's starting to see those pieces come together. I think it's also because of both Kennedy and Emily Leavitt. They are two players who have been in our program for a very long time, and she can lean on them. That's the beauty of having Kennedy and Leavitt in your program. Kennedy has obviously been super successful. You have a freshman that you think has the stuff, but they need some time to figure it out. We've given them some matchups where we feel they will be really successful. Then, they also have some older kids to lean on. That's really where you see a lot of growth happen.
   
• We're amped for this weekend. We're ready to start conference play. I've gotten a lot of texts from our alumni and friends in the community. One of them sent me a message like, "Hey, is there softball going on this weekend?" For me, that's what I love. I love being a part of a community. It's one of the things that drew me here. I'm out walking the dog this morning, and I have neighbors coming out like, "We're with you, coach!" That's why I'm here. There are a lot of reasons A&M is great, but one of the main ones was the 12th Man and feeling part of it. We're excited.
   
• We've seen the team's mindset and ability to bounce back, not only in games but also this past weekend when we lost one against Texas Tech and then came back. Sunday was a hard day. Idaho State had not lost a game, so they were ready to play us. They're a scrappy team. Obviously, we had Texas Tech again, and we didn't play clean but figured out a way to win. At the end of the day, no matter what, if we have time, we have the ability to win a ballgame. No matter how this goes this weekend, I know that we're going to get better from it. They're ready to come out and compete.