COLLEGE STATION – The Texas A&M softball team played the opening game in the annual Maroon & White series on Tuesday, with the White team taking home a win and a 1-0 lead.
The players are divided into Maroon and White, coach themselves and play for pride and food: the losing team cooks the team's holiday feast.
The first two innings went quickly, with both pitchers retiring three runners an inning in quick order. Katie Marks took the mound to start for White with Rachel Fox on the mound for Maroon.
Action picked up in the top of the third, as Alex Masek was the first on base after an error at second. Sophomore April Ryan hit a single to left center, her first on-base appearance of the night, and Breanna Dozier was walked to load the bases. Unfortunately, an out by Ashley Walters left three on base as we headed to the bottom of the inning. Fox took the mound, perfect through the first two innings, but White (person) was able to reach second on an error by Dozier at third. Cali Lanphear struck first for the White team, with an RBI double to the right center gap, bringing White home and giving them a 1-0 lead heading into the fourth.
Marks retired three of the Maroon team's batters in a row to send White back out on offense. After loading the bases again, White squandered an opportunity to go up big on a pop up to second base. White held a 1-0 lead into the fifth.
Maroon quickly evened the score on a solo homerun by April Ryan, bringing her to 3-3 on the afternoon. Fox then sent three of White's batters home in 1-2-3 fashion to keep us in a 1-1 tie ballgame.
After a scoreless sixth, both teams entered the final inning in a do-or-die mentality. Team Maroon wasn't messing around as Dozier cranked out a huge out-of-the-park, solo homerun to give Maroon its first lead of the day at 2-1. The White team gathered to make a pitching change, sending Marks back to center field and calling up Abby Donnell to the mound.
Walters immediately answered the new challenge, hitting a one RBI homerun bringing Kristen Cuyos in with her and giving Maroon a 4-1 lead heading into the bottom of the seventh.
First up for the White team, Suzanne White, after falling behind on a 0-2 count, found herself on first on a leadoff walk on balls. A quick pop up by Erica Russell caught her jammed by third base but Lanphear quickly found herself on base after being hit by a pitch.
A big hit to center field turned into a home run for Tori Vidales, bringing S. White and Lanphear home as well for a tie ballgame. Maroon attempted a pitching change to hold on to their fading momentum but Celena Massey stepped up to the plate and connected for a solo, game-winning homerun and a 5-4 decision for the White team.
The Aggies will take the field again on Wednesday and Thursday at 3:30 p.m. to close out the series. Both games are free to the public and can be heard live on 95.1-3 The Zone HD and RadioAggieland.com. To learn more about Texas A&M softball, log on to 12thMan.com and follow @AggieSoftball on Twitter.