Game #47: No. 24 South Carolina 3, No. 10 Texas A&M 1
Records: Texas A&M (34-13, 14-5), South Carolina (28-21, 6-13)
WP: Jori Heard (11-8)
LP: Sidne Peters (13-5)
Box Score
All good things must come to an end at some point, and on Friday night, that phrase became reality for Aggie softball.
No. 10 Texas A&M lost to No. 24 South Carolina 3-1, ending its nine-game win streak in Columbia.
Down two runs in the top of the seventh inning, it seemed like the Aggie comeback magic might work one more time.
Kelsey Mathis got things started, driving a double off the right field fence, bringing the tying run up to bat.
After a strikeout and a walk, two Aggies were on the bases, as pinch-hitter Larisa Perez came up in the nine spot.
She punched a single to right field, loading the bases with one out. Perez had previously been 1-for-8 this season, with her only hit coming against Sam Houston on March 24.
Despite the desperate fight, the Aggie offense showed up too late.
Kennedy Powell popped up to shortstop, and South Carolina pitcher Jori Heard struck Tallen Edwards out to end the game, leaving them loaded.
Heard held the Aggies to one run on seven hits, striking out six batters and earning her 11th win of the year. The only run she allowed was a Mya Perez solo shot over the right field wall in the sixth inning.
Perez went 1-for-3 in the losing effort, hitting her career-best 17th home run of the season, extending her on-base streak to 50 games.
Mathis and Powell also made strides offensively, accounting for four hits on Friday with two doubles each.
On her first hit, Powell reached second and was called safe on an attempt to advance to third. A successful South Carolina challenge made her the first out of the game.
Perez wasn’t the only one with a home run on Friday night, as Gamecocks' third baseman Natalie Heath slammed a three-run shot in the second inning to put the Gamecocks up 3-0.
Heath went 2-for-1 in the affair, hitting her first home run of the season off A&M pitcher Sidne Peters.
Peters remained in the circle for six innings, allowing three runs on four hits and striking out six. She was tagged with the loss, bringing her record to 13-5.
Other than the three-run homer, Peters kept South Carolina away from scoring, not letting a Gamecock batter reach third base.
The Aggies go down in the series-opener, but they will look to bounce back on Saturday, April 25, when the three-game set continues at 12 p.m. CT.
