Photo by Matt Sachs, TexAgs
Texas A&M Softball
Softball: A&M falls to #5 Florida 5-1 in game one of weekend series
GAME #44: Florida 5, Texas A&M 1
RECORDS: Florida 38-8, 9-7; Texas A&M 29-15, 9-10
Matt Sachs, TexAgs
A&M shortstop Taran Tyler was the only Aggie to register multiple hits, going 2-of-3 on the night.
Matt Sachs, TexAgs
Senior Amber Garza played designated hitter on Friday night after an ankle injury kept her out of the starting lineup for nearly two weeks.
RECORDS: Florida 38-8, 9-7; Texas A&M 29-15, 9-10
WP: Hannah Rogers (19-6)
LP: Rachel Fox (12-8)
S: None
BOX SCORE: LINK
College Station - The gauntlet of high competition in the SEC seemingly never ends. Last weekend, the No. 21 Texas A&M softball team hosted fourth-ranked Tennessee. This weekend, the Aggies play host to fifth-ranked Florida.
LP: Rachel Fox (12-8)
S: None
BOX SCORE: LINK
College Station - The gauntlet of high competition in the SEC seemingly never ends. Last weekend, the No. 21 Texas A&M softball team hosted fourth-ranked Tennessee. This weekend, the Aggies play host to fifth-ranked Florida.
And on Friday night, the Gators showed why they’re thought of so highly.
Behind nine hits and a two-run homer, Florida took game one of the weekend’s three-game series against the Aggies 5-1 in front of 1,278 fans at the Aggie Softball Complex on Friday night. With the victory, the Gators pushed their all-time record against A&M to 5-3.
Matt Sachs, TexAgs
A&M shortstop Taran Tyler was the only Aggie to register multiple hits, going 2-of-3 on the night.
Just three at-bats into the contest, the Gators broke the scoreless tie with a two-run homer to center field from third baseman Stephanie Tofft. After A&M starter Rachel Fox put Kirsti Merritt on first with a walk, Tofft swung at the first pitch she saw and lifted it out of the park for her seventh homerun of the year.
The Aggies cut the deficit to one run in the bottom of the third when Amber Garza knocked a double off the wall in left field to score Cassie Tysarczk from second. Garza, who has been out of the starting lineup for nearly two weeks with an ankle injury, went 1-of-3 on the night and made her first appearance in the starting nine since April 6th.
“It’s a shot in the arm to get Garza back in the lineup,” stated Evans. “She’s a gamer. It’s great to see her back in the lineup.”
During the top of the fifth, the Gators pushed their lead out to four by putting up a three-spot on a two-RBI double from Briana Little and a misplayed grounder off the bat of Taylor Schwarz. After a pair of singles and a walk from A&M starter Rachel Fox, Little drove a 2-2 pitch off the wall in right-center field, allowing Tofft and Lauren Haeger to score.
In the next at-bat, Schwarz hit a routine grounder towards the circle, but Fox fumbled the ball and could not make any play. The error allowed Bailey Castro to score and made the tally 5-1 in favor of Florida.
“It’s opportunities and making the most of them, and Florida did that,” said Evans. “In the fifth, they went out there and strung some hits together and really drove the ball. They took advantage of those big opportunities.”
A&M looked to rally in the bottom of the seventh as the Aggies put the first two runners on base after an infield single from Taran Tyler and a double off the wall in left from Reagan Boenker. With momentum behind her, Albus stepped to the plate to start the next at-bat, but was controversially called out after an attempted bunt for the first out of the inning.
It appeared as if the bunted ball hit Albus while still in the batter’s box, which would have been called foul, but none of the umpire crew saw the contact and Florida fielded the ball and threw to first for the out.
Matt Sachs, TexAgs
Senior Amber Garza played designated hitter on Friday night after an ankle injury kept her out of the starting lineup for nearly two weeks.
}“Reagan Boenker had great at-bats all night long and hit the ball on the screws (in the seventh),”stated Evans. “With Emily, that ball hits her foot and you think it’s a dead ball, but instead, we got an out called. That was a crucial situation right there.”
With one out, Tysarczyk drew a walk to load the bases, but Morgan grounded into a game-ending, bang-bang double play one batter later to end the game.
“Cassie had a great at-bat to draw the walk,” Evans said of her senior’s appearance in the seventh. “Nicole chased a pitch out of the zone and hurt herself, but I thought she hustled down there to first. It’s unfortunate how the game ended.”
With game one behind them, the Aggies now look to even the series on Saturday in a 5 p.m. contest at the Aggie Softball Complex. That game can be seen live nationally on ESPNU.
“I feel good about our ball club right now,” Evans concluded. “I know we’re going to come back and play hard these next two games. I feel like we have a good shot to win a ballgame tomorrow.”
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