The Texas A&M softball crew took a stroll on the wild aspect Sunday afternoon, dropping 9-2 to fourth-ranked Tennessee at Davis Diamond.
The Woman Vols took benefit of six hit batters and three Aggie errors within the deciding recreation of their Southeastern Convention collection.
Tennessee (29-3, 10-2) had solely 5 hits, however 4 of its hit batters scored and 6 of its runs had been unearned.
“Clearly, their recreation plan was to crowd the plate and get hit by pitches and we didn’t make our changes,” A&M coach Trisha Ford mentioned. “We put a number of site visitors on the bottom path.”
Courtesy of Texas A&M Athletics.
The Woman Vols additionally had their hiccups by hitting three batters, strolling 5 and uncorking two wild pitches, however it was Tennessee’s wildest pitch that made a giant distinction.
Tennessee’s Karlyn Pickens within the fourth inning air mailed a 75-mph rise ball properly over the catcher’s head with A&M freshman Riley Valentine on third base. The Twenty fifth-ranked Aggies (22-13, 5-7) thought they had been about to tie the sport at 3, however the ball bounced excessive off the padded wall behind residence plate proper to the catcher. Valentine, midway down the road, was a simple out.
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Tennessee constructed on that by scoring 5 runs within the fifth for an 8-2 lead towards a beginning lineup, which had seven underclassmen.
“It’s a recreation of momentum and it’s simply one thing you must be taught,” Ford mentioned.
The Woman Vols loaded the bases with a stroll, hit batter and an error by senior reduction pitcher Madison Preston who had been sensible in Saturday’s 3-1 victory. Preston was changed by sophomore Emily Leavitt who induced a grounder for an out on the plate, however Tennessee junior Giulia Koutsoyanopulos cleared the bases with a double on a 0-2 pitch. Freshman pinch hitter Jamison Brockenbrough adopted with a single that was hit too exhausting to attain Koutsoyanopulos, however she got here residence when A&M threw the ball away attempting to retire Brockenbrough at first. Tennessee senior Kiki Milloy singled residence Brockenbrough for the inning’s last run.
A&M had an opportunity to reply within the backside of the fifth as Julia Cottrill reached on an error and fellow junior Trinity Cannon was hit by a pitch. Pickens fell behind 3-0 on the following batter, however answered with three straight strikes, the final of which freshman Aiyana Coleman grounded right into a double play.
“We had some innings the place I felt we got here in with the momentum after which [Pickens] simply went 1-2-3,” Ford mentioned. “We gotta make it exhausting. We’ve obtained to make her throw greater than 4 pitches in an at-bat.”
Pickens, who obtained the ultimate out of Friday’s 2-1, 13-innings victory, struck out 10 Sunday with 120 pitches in 6 2/3 innings with 4 walks. The freshman right-hander (7-3) began Saturday’s recreation, however wasn’t sharp in three innings, permitting two hits.
A&M strung its three hits collectively within the first inning to chase Tennessee freshman beginning pitcher Payton Gottshall, however it seldom hit the ball exhausting thereafter towards Pickens. Ford will dissect the tape to see why the offense struggled.
“I feel we obtained slightly passive,” Ford mentioned. “I feel we began to assume an excessive amount of within the [batter’s] field.”
A&M had a troublesome begin. Sophomore beginning pitcher Emily Kennedy (5-3) gave up a one-out single to Rylie West and plucked McKenna Gibson. The subsequent pitch appeared to idiot the catcher, bouncing excessive and towards the Woman Vols’ dugout on the first-base aspect, permitting West to attain from second. Again-to-back hit batters and a stroll introduced in Tennessee’s second run, however Kennedy the left bases stranded by getting back-to-back outs.
A&M tied the sport within the backside of the primary on Coleman’s RBI single and sophomore Koko Wooley getting hit by a pitch with the bases loaded.
NOTES – Tennessee with six hit batters tied the college report set in 2013 towards Charleston South. …A&M wore blue uniform tops for World Autism Consciousness Day.
Tennessee;200;151;0–;9;5;1
Texas A&M;200;000;0;–;2;3;3
Payton Gottshall, Karlyn Pickens (1) and Giulia Koutsoyanopulos. Emiley Kennedy, Madison Preston (5), Emily Leavitt (5), Shaylee Ackeman (6) and Julia Cottrill, Gracyn Coleman (2), Cottrill (6). W – Pickens, 7-3. L – Kennedy, 5-3.
Main hitters – TENNESSEE: Kiki Milloy 2-5, 2 RBIs; Koutsoyanopulos 1-2, 2B, 4 RBIs. A&M: Trinity Cannon 1-2; Rylen Wiggins 1-2
Data: Tennessee 29-3, 10-2; A&M 22-13, 5-7