COLLEGE STATION, Texas - The No. 20/21 Texas A&M softball team takes on the Sam Houston State Bearkats in a midweek contest between two SEC weekend series.
The Aggies are coming off a series win against No. 12 Kentucky to open SEC play. The ball club won the first two games to clinch the series before falling in the series finale. Holding a 19-5 record, Texas A&M is 11-3 at the Aggie Softball Complex.
Fans unable to attend the game can listen to it live on 1150 AM, 12thMan.com or RadioAggieland.com. Download the RadioAggieland app to listen to the games, or tune in online. Additionally, each game on the Aggies' home slate will be broadcast on SEC Network +, with seven contests on the ESPN family of channels.
Instantaneous live mobile stats can be seen from any mobile device, as well as any computer at TAMUstats.com. Live stats will also be available for every game of the 2015 season through 12thMan.com. Click on the live stats link on the Aggie softball schedule page any time after first pitch to follow the action.
AT FIRST GLANCE
The Aggies are currently riding a 19-5 record and are coming off two undefeated tournaments and a midweek win over Houston for a ten-game win streak. Senior Rachel Fox currently leads the Aggies in the circle, owning a 10-3 record with nine complete games and four shutouts. Junior Katie Marks has also made an impact this spring, claiming a 6-0 record and four complete games. The pair has combined for 16 wins, five shutouts and 90 strikeouts. Senior Brittany Clopton, batting in the leadoff position for A&M most of 2015 so far, leads the team with a .379 batting average and has recorded a hit in 11 straight games. Junior Cali Lanphear has had a resurgence into prominence in the Aggie lineup, recording 18 RBIs on only 14 hits so far.
LAST AT BAT
Most recently, the Aggies opened Southeastern Conference play by taking the series from Kentucky, 2-1. A&M opened the weekend with a 3-0 win in dramatic fashion, as the game entered extra innings tied at 0-0. A walk-off, three-run homer from sophomore April Ryan gave the ball club its first SEC victory of the season. A confident Aggie team, wearing brand new, all-black uniforms, took the field on Saturday and, after two innings of back to back scoring, notched four runs in the bottom of the fourth to take the lead for the first, and final, time. A rainy Sunday outing was won by the Wildcats, after A&M clinched the series the previous day. UK scored two solo home runs early in the game and held the lead until the bottom of the sixth inning, when clutch hitting and a few well-timed walks combined and the Aggies evened the game up. Another solo shot homer by the Cats in the seventh closed the game.
SCOUTING SAM HOUSTON STATE
The Bearkats are currently standing at 7-14 and have lost their last three contests. In their one outing against a top 25 program, the Bearkats dropped a 14-4, five inning decision to the Oregon Ducks.
SHSU is led by Peyton Webb, who is batting .390, who is pacing the Bearkats with 23 hits, adding 13 runs, four home runs and 16 RBIs.
In the circle, Sam Houston State has utilized three pitchers in six starts each and a fourth that has seen action four times. Haley Baros leads the pitching staff with a 4.65 ERA in a single win and five losses.
KS FOR DAYS
Senior Rachel Fox and junior Katie Marks are dominating in the circle, logging 18 wins in 24 games, well on their way to overtaking last year's total of 30. Both pitchers fanned season-high batters in the last two tournaments, with Fox sending 11 Illinois State batters back to the dugout at the Texas A&M Invitational and Marks taking down six against Syracuse at the Mary Nutter Classic.
THE POWER OF YOUTH
With the Aggies losing their top three hitters from 2014, the ball club was looking for power coming into this spring. The freshman and sophomore classes have found their way into the top five places in each batting statistical category and lead eight. Freshmen Tori Vidales, Kristen Cuyos, Erin Houthoofd and Ashley Walters have combined for 11of the team's 19 homeruns and sophomore April Ryan leads the team in runs scored at 20, with Vidales at third with 18. Vidales currently leads the SEC in homeruns at six. The future is looking bright for the new bats.
HOME RUN TANK
The Aggies have exhibited some powerful hitting over the past two weekends. Here is a list of players who have made deposits in the home run tank so far during the 2015 season:
GRAND SLAMS:
1 Cali Lanphear - Feb. 6 vs Utah
Tori Vidales - Feb. 7 vs UCLA
HOME RUNS:
6 Tori Vidales
4 April Ryan
3 Kristen Cuyos
2 Cali Lanphear
Reagan Boenker
1 Breanna Dozier
Erin Houthoofd
Ashley Walters
OH WHAT A RELIEF IT IS
The Aggies have been making full use of their pitching staff, with the relief pitchers shining in early weeks of play. Senior Lauren Ainsley and junior Katie Marks has particularly strong performances at the SoCal Collegiate Classic and senior Rachel Fox proved she can do more than take over from the top at the Aggie Classic.
NUMBER ONE SPOT
While the batting order has shuffled around throughout the beginning of the season, one name has stayed in the same position: senior Brittany Clopton in the leadoff spot. Leading the Aggies in hits, Clopton has 27 all together and at one point reached the bags in 11 consecutive games, going hitless in only five outings.
THEY CAN GO ALL. THE. WAY.
The Aggie bullpen has gone the distance this season, with senior Rachel Fox and junior Katie Marks throwing 16 complete games through 24 total contests. Most recently, Fox threw two back-to-back full games in the Aggies' SEC opening against Kentucky to notch two more wins.
GOING BACK TO CALI
The Aggies have become a mainstay in several California tournaments, taking at least one trip to the West Coast over the past four seasons. Texas A&M has a 24-11 record in the Golden State since 2011 including a 5-0 turn to open the 2014 season in Santa Barbara and 3-2 finish at the 2015 SoCal Collegiate Classic. The Aggies most recently added five more wins at the 2015 Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic.
THE 2015 AGGIES
In its third season in the Southeastern Conference, Texas A&M welcomes seven newcomers to the 2015 squad with freshmen Kristen Cuyos(Pearland), Erin Hoothoufd (Beach City), Kayla Ober (Katy), Hailey Rebar (San Antonio), Erica Russell (Bryan), Tori Vidales (La Porte) andAshley Walters (Kerrville). Returning to action are five sophomores, four juniors and an incredibly experienced four-member senior class. The Aggies will have to replace a prolific group of eight seniors from 2014 but retain four members of their pitching staff and several fresh faces who worked their way up the stat columns last season.
WELCOME BACK
The Aggies 13 student-athletes from the 2014 squad, including an experienced pitching staff and plenty of hitting power. Right-handed pitchers Rachel Fox and Katie Marks led the Aggies in 2014, putting together 30 wins with a combined 193 Ks. Sophomore April Ryan is A&M's leading hitter, batting .295 with 43 runs and 40 RBIs.
RANKING THE AGGIES
Texas A&M currently stands in the No. 19/21 spot in the national polls. The Aggies' 2015 opponents in the top 25 are No. 1 Florida, No. 2/3 Oregon, No. 5 Alabama, No. 2/3 LSU, No. 12/14 Kentucky, No. 12/14 Auburn and No. 10/13 UCLA. In addition, South Carolina, Stanford and Mississippi State are receiving votes.
SEC PRESEASON POLL
The Southeastern Conference coaches predicted a No. 9 finish for the Aggies in 2015, finishing behind No. 1 Florida, No. 2 Alabama, No. 3 Kentucky, No. 4 LSU, No. 5 Georgia, No. 6 Missouri, No. 7 Auburn and No. 8 Tennessee. Rounding out the preseason poll are No. 10 South Carolina, No. 11 Mississippi State, No. 12 Arkansas and No. 13 Ole Miss. Nine of the 13 SEC softball teams appeared among the nation's top-25 in the USA Today/NFCA Preseason Poll. Points for the SEC poll were awarded on a 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12 basis. Coaches were not allowed to vote for their own team. The SEC did away with East-West divisions after the 2012-13 season in all sports but baseball and football.
FULL FEBRUARY
With four tournaments and two nonconference midweek games at the beginning of the season, the Aggies played over one third of their regular-season schedule in the month of February. Of the 56 scheduled games in 2015, 21 of them took place during the first four weeks of the season. The ball club exited the busiest month of the season with a 17-4 record and won the last ten times they stepped onto the diamond.
FOLLOW THE AGGIES
Get the latest news, updates and action from Aggie Softball by following the team's official Twitter account @AggieSoftball. Fans on Facebook can also stay connected by liking the Aggie Softball page (facebook.com/TAMUSoftball).
LISTEN LIVE
Aggie Softball fans worldwide can listen to each game of the 2015 season live on AggieAthletics.com. All contests are provided by The Zone and can be heard on smartphones and HD radios via the Radio Aggieland app. Select games are also available in the Bryan-College Station area on Sports Radio 1150 AM. Every game will be live online at RadioAggieland.com and 12thMan.com.
MOBILE LIVE STATS
Fans who wish to follow the action of each game this season can also receive free, instantaneous live stats on any computer or smartphone by visiting TAMUstats.com. Users can access current live stats and stats from past games.
AGGIE SOFTBALL ON TV
The Aggies will play at least seven games on national TV this season, beginning with the Sunday, March 8 game against Kentucky on the SEC Network at noon CT. Of the Aggies' seven televised contests, five will be played at the Aggie Softball Complex. The Aggies will host Auburn on ESPNU on Saturday, April 11 at 1 p.m. CT. A week earlier the Aggies and South Carolina will face off on the SEC Network – March 21-22. In addition to the seven regular-season games, each Texas A&M home game will be broadcast on the SEC Network + channel and the WatchESPN app. The entire SEC tournament, including both play-in games, will be broadcast on ESPN networks. The SEC Tournament is set for May 6-9 in Baton Rogue, La.
TICKETS
All tickets may be purchased over the phone at 1-888-99-AGGIE OR 979-845-2311, online at tickets.12thManFoundation.com, or in person at the West Side of Kyle Field ticket office. Season tickets are currently available for just $125. Individual game tickets for softball will go on sale in January and are $10 for reserved (sections 4-8) and $8 for Adult General Admission (sections 1-3). Youth GA tickets are available for $5 each. Group rates are also available to groups of at least 20, and cost $8 for reserved seats and $3 for GA. Texas A&M students with no all-sports option may purchase a student walkup ticket for $5. Junior Aggie Club members are admitted free of charge to all Aggie softball games. Membership to the JAC is just $25, and information is available at www.JuniorAggieClub.com.
PARKING
Parking for all Aggie softball games is available in Lot 100 at both Reed Arena and Olsen Field. For games that do not conflict with baseball, the entry gate on the Reed Arena side of the stadium will not be opened; fans are encouraged to park at Olsen Field for those games to allow easy access to the stadium entrance. Visitors may park for free when there is not a conflict with an A&M men's basketball or baseball game. This does not include 24-hour numbered, 12th Man or timed spaces. Visit transportation.tamu.edu for more information.
UP NEXT
The Aggies will head to Starkville, Miss., to take on Mississippi State March 13-15. Fans can tune into the RadioAggieland app and the game will be broadcast on SEC Network +/WatchESPN as well as live stats available through 12thMan.com