No. 8 Aggies suffer two ranked losses on Day 1 in Clearwater

Game #6: No. 23 Oklahoma State 9, No. 8 Texas A&M 8
Records: Texas A&M (4-2, 0-0), Oklahoma State (5-3, 0-0)
WP: Rylee Crandall (3-0)
LP: Taylor Pannell (0-1)
Box Score

Game #7: No. 19 Duke 8, No. 8 Texas A&M 6
Records: Texas A&M (4-3, 0-0), Duke (5-1, 0-0)
WP: Mallory Wheeler (2-0)
LP: Kate Munnerlyn (1-2)
Box Score

The first day of the Shriners Children's Clearwater Invitational came as a tough test for No. 8 Texas A&M, as the Aggies dropped both games of a Friday doubleheader.

Despite a strong offensive showing, big runs given up by the Aggies resulted in losses against a pair of top-25 foes. Power hitting wasn’t enough to get past No. 23 Oklahoma State, 9-8, and the Maroon & White ultimately fell short vs. No. 19 Duke, 8-6.

Maddie Sauni and Kennedy Powell both had career days in the box for the offense, ending the day bittersweetly for the Aggies.

Sauni recorded her first career home run and went 5-for-6 with two runs and three RBIs on the day.

Powell hit her first career grand slam in the game against Duke and went 4-for-6 with three runs and four RBIs throughout both games.

Mya Perez hit an impressive three-run home run against Oklahoma State in the third to give the Aggies life, cutting the deficit back to 7-4.

Ariel Kowalewski had a homer of her own, but it came too late in the seventh in the loss to Duke.

The Maroon & White also had several defensive gems in their second game, which kept them toe-to-toe with the Blue Devils.

Early in the second, left fielder Paislie Allen secured a deep fly ball by Kairi Rodriguez.

Center fielder Kelsey Mathis also had an outfield catch against Rodriguez, tracking back to the warning track to save a fly ball to end the top of the third.

Rounding out Powell’s impressive day was a bobbling pop-up catch near the dugout against Amiah Burgess, which ended the fourth inning for the Blue Devils.

Despite the strong barrels and defensive plays, A&M never led in either game.

After giving up back-to-back walks against Oklahoma State’s first two batters, Rosie Davis stepped up to the plate and hit a three-run triple off Taylor Pannell, pushing the Cowgirls to 3-0 after the first five batters.

Later in the inning, Jayden Jones hit an RBI double to make the score 5-0 in the top of the first.

Between both games, the Maroon & White gave up a total of 17 runs, which accounted for more runs than their previous weekend of play combined.

Pannell made her second start for the Aggies against Oklahoma State, but she was switched out for Sidne Peters in the top of the second after allowing three hits and five runs.

Peters recorded six strikeouts against the Cowgirls but gave up five hits and four runs in five innings.

Kate Munnerlyn closed out the game, recording one strikeout and allowing zero hits or runs.

Sydney Lessentine started against the Blue Devils but gave up two home runs, five hits and four runs in three innings.

Munnerlyn and Grace Sparks both pitched two innings, allowing six hits and four runs combined.

A&M will look ahead to their remaining opponents in the Clearwater Invitational, playing against North Carolina State at 8 a.m. CT on Saturday, Feb. 14.

On Sunday, Feb. 15, the Aggies will play a doubleheader against James Madison at 8 a.m. and Northwestern at 11 a.m. to close out the tournament.