The Texas A&M softball team recovered this past weekend from a five-game losing streak.
In the Marriott Houston Invitational tournament, the Aggies won the first four games against Northern Illisnois, Prairie View A&M, McNeese State and host No. 18 Houston before falling to Illinois on the final day.
The Aggies knocked 33 hits and 25 runs in the first two games of the tournament on Friday.
Against the Northern Illinois Huskies, A&M led off the first inning with back-to-back singles and a sacrifice bunt to get two runners in scoring position. A double from senior catcher Erin Glasco scored both runners. Two more singles brought home two more runs and A&M ended the inning with an early 4-0 lead.
The Aggies kept the momentum, scoring 10 more runs while three Aggie pitchers combined to hold the Huskies to two runs. A&M won 14-2.
Against Prairie View A&M, the Panthers took an early 1-0 lead. But the Aggies' offense could not be contained as it exploded for 11 runs, scoring four runs in the second inning.
Junior infielder Alex Reynolds knocked a two-run home run in the fourth inning extended the Aggies' lead to 11-1.
A&M continued the winning streak Saturday.
Against McNeese State, both squads fought to a scoreless first inning before a 30-minute rain delay.
After resuming play, the Aggies broke through in the third inning when Reynolds scored junior shortstop Macie Morrow from third base on a single.
A&M did not score again until the fifth inning, when Glasco scored senior outfielder Holly Ridley with a one out double to left-center field. Reynolds then hit her second RBI of the game with a single to score sophomore pinch runner Andrea Tovar and improved the Aggies' lead to 3-0.
Kliesing started the game for A&M, earning her fifth win of the season while striking out nine Cowgirls in the shutout.
In the second game of the day, the Aggies earned their first win against a ranked opponent in 2009 when they took down No. 18 Houston in extra innings 4-3.
The Cougars tied the game in the sixth inning when senior second baseman Haley Valis scored from third base on fielding error.
In the top of the eighth inning, with the extra-innings rule in effect, the Aggies began the inning with Glasco on second base. After a sacrifice to move the senior to third, sophomore Kelsey Spittler knocked in the game-winning run with a single to left field.
"We were due to win a game like this," A&M Head Coach Jo Evans told AggieAthletics.com. "We've been snake-bitten in the last innings in so many games prior to this, and I'm really excited that we got out there and held our own."
However, the momentum did not carry over into the Sunday game against Illinois. The Aggies dropped their first game of the weekend with a 5-4 loss to the Fighting Illini.
Illinois, which went 5-0 in the tournament, got ahead in the first inning 2-0 with a two-run double from senior catcher Lana Armstrong.
The teams fought back and fourth before Spittler tied the game 4-4 with a three-RBI double in the bottom of the seventh inning, sending the game to extra innings.
After Illinois scored in the top of the eighth inning on an Aggie error, the team failed to score in the bottom of the inning, losing 5-4.
Be the first to comment on this article!