The warmth of a late April night in College Station filled the air at Davis Diamond on Friday, April 19 as No. 12 Texas A&M softball took on Ole Miss to start its last regular season series at home and senior weekend.
Despite not scoring until the fourth inning, the Maroon and White came out on top in a 5-2 win.
“We don’t panic,” coach Trisha Ford said. “I just feel their confidence. We’ll find a way to win the ball game.”
A&M’s defense kept the Rebels scoreless in the first four innings, with junior LHP Emiley Kennedy striking out five of the 14 batters she faced.
The Maroon and White got things going in the fourth when senior 1B Trinity Cannon singled into deep center field to spark life in the Aggies’ offense, with Ford subbing in freshman PR Hailey Golden for Cannon.
A sacrifice bunt from junior RF Allie Enright advanced Golden to second, with senior SS Rylen Wiggins following her with a walk to first. Wiggins and Golden advanced to second and third, respectively, on a groundout.
A wild pitch followed, allowing Wiggins and Golden to run home to score the game’s first two runs.
The Rebels, however, came back and matched A&M’s two runs in the top of the fifth. A walk from junior 3B Delaney Rummell started things off for Ole Miss before senior 2B Angelina DeLeon homered to left field and brought them both home.
Kennedy, for one of the first times all year, looked visibly frustrated. However, the Aggies held on to get out of the fifth inning with no more than the two runs.
“I told her to look me in the eyes and let’s get back to doing what we do,” Ford said about Kennedy’s frustrations in the fifth inning.
Sophomore 2B Amari Harper singled to shortstop to get the Maroon and White started at the bottom of the fifth. A bunt from junior LF Kramer Eschete sent her to first and advanced Harper to second before a throwing error put them in scoring position.
The Aggies looked like they were about to have two outs with senior C Julia Cottrill striking out. However, an error off of junior C Lexie Brady turned the play into a wild pitch that sent home Eschete and Harper for two runs that took the 4-2 lead for A&M.
The bottom of the sixth started with Wiggins making it to first off of an error by sophomore SS Ryan Starr, with a passed ball advancing Wiggins to second. A throwing error from Brady allowed Wiggins to score a run that put A&M up 5-2.
A&M’s defense held on in the seventh, with Kennedy earning her sixth and seventh strikeouts of the game in the seventh inning.
“Lefty did a great job,” Ford said. “She persevered and battled through.”
The Aggies will face off against Ole Miss for Game 2 on Saturday, April 20 at 1 p.m.