COLLEGE STATION, Texas - The No. 25 Texas A&M softball team returns home for the final midweek contest of the season, taking on its seventh Lone Star State foe in Texas State at 6:35 p.m. on Wednesday.
The Aggies are coming off a tough road trip to the No. 1 ranked team in the country and the reigning national champions, the Florida Gators, who took all three games in the weekend series.
Fans unable to attend the games can listen to 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.
HOME WEEK PROMOTIONS
Way Back Wednesday
Wednesday's game will feature a throwback to yesteryear and will play fan-favorite songs from the past throughout the game. Family Pack Tickets will also be available which will give fans a ticket, entry for a giveaway and a concessions voucher for just $10.
Maroon Friday
All fans are encouraged to wear maroon to help us “Maroon Out” the Aggie Softball Complex. Come to each Friday home game covered in maroon and you could be chosen as the Maroon Fan of the Game, and be entered into a grand prize drawing that will be announced at the end of the season.
Kids Take Over The Park On Saturdays
Pregame activities, beginning at 4:30 p.m., include poster making, face tattoos, sidewalk chalk, inflatables & more. During the game, kids will be selected to assist the marketing team with everything from the t-shirt toss to announcing the Aggie batters for one half inning. Following the conclusion of the game on Saturday, all kids are invited on the field to run the bases, weather permitting. With each adult ticket purchased, up to four kids 12 and under can come into the game for free.
Slug It Sundays
Post-game, TAMU students are invited onto the field to attempt to hit a home run for an exclusive prize. Limit one swing per student and students must present a valid student ID to participate. Softball Bingo will now be played on Sundays.
AT FIRST GLANCE
The Aggies are currently riding a 34-17 record and most recently fell 0-3 to the Florida Gators on the road. Senior Rachel Fox currently leads the Aggies in the circle, owning a 19-12 record with 19 complete games and six shutouts. Junior Katie Marks has also made an impact this spring, claiming a 12-2 record and nine complete games. The pair has combined for 31 wins, ten shutouts and 206 strikeouts. Freshman Tori Vidales leads the Aggie bats, with a .342 batting average, and paces the ball club with 44 runs, 50 hits, 17 home runs and 48 RBI.
LAST AT BAT
Most recently, Texas A&M took on the Florida Gators in a weekend series, falling in all three games. The big story of the weekend for the Aggie offense was the long ball. Three different Aggies went yard this weekend, with sophomore Celena Massey and freshman Tori Vidales recording two dingers each across the weekend. Massey doubled her season total in the second game of the series, dropping bombs in consecutive at-bats, while Vidales bookended the weekend with homers in the first and last games of the trip. Freshman Ashley Walters tacked on her second home run of the season in the second game of the weekend, as part of a 5-0 lead Aggie lead at the time.
SCOUTING TEXAS STATE
Texas State holds a 29-19 record, 11-6 in Sun Belt play, and are coming off a sweep of conference opponent Appalachian State at home last weekend and are riding a seven game win streak. The Bobcats are led in the circle by Randi Rupp, who boasts a 2.83 ERA and a 21-12 record with 267 strikeouts in 222.1 innings pitched. Offensively, Kendall Wiley is on top of the ball club, pacing the Bobcats with a .414 batting average, 58 hits, 11 home runs and 46 RBI.
KS FOR DAYS
Senior Rachel Fox and junior Katie Marks are dominating in the circle, logging 31 wins in 51 games, surpassing last year's total of 30. Both pitchers fanned season-high batters in the last two tournaments of the spring, 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. Fox fell just short of her season high against UTSA, fanning 10 batters in a 5-2 victory.
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 27 of the team's 52 homeruns and Vidales leads the team with 44 runs scored. The future is looking bright for the new bats.
YARD WATCH
The Aggies have exhibited some powerful hitting so far this season. Here is a list of players who have made deposits in the home run tank during the 2015 season:
GRAND SLAMS:
1 Cali Lanphear - Feb. 6 vs Utah
Tori Vidales - Feb. 7 vs UCLA
April Ryan - April 15 vs Lamar
HOME RUNS:
17 Tori Vidales
7 Cali Lanphear
Kristen Cuyos
Breanna Dozier
5 April Ryan
4 Celena Massey
2 Reagan Boenker
Ashley Walters
1 Erin Houthoofd
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 against South Carolina, coming in to take over in the final victory of the three-game sweep. Sophomore Abby Donnell saw her first extended effort in the circle against Mississippi State and earned her first win of 2015, allowing just three hits in over five innings of work in the come-from-behind victory. Donnell added another relief W to her column during the Aggies' sweep of South Carolina. Ainsley made two appearances over the last week, pitching three innings and allowing zero hits against Georgia Tech as well as taking the circle against North Texas. Freshman Kayla Ober has made her own mark late in the season, showing out during a two-inning stint against LSU, allowing only a single hit and holding the Tigers scoreless for the first two consecutive innings in the series.
FINAL LANDING PLACE
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, until the last two weeks where she has found a new resting place: the nine hole. At the top of the list in hits, Clopton has 50 all together and at one point reached the bags in 11 consecutive games, going hitless in only 11 outings.
MOVIN' ON UP
With two homeruns in the Aggies' 11-5 win over Alabama, junior Cali Lanphear passed Adrian Gregory and Lisa Klam to move into tenth place on the Aggies' career home runs list. After a freshman year that saw her crush 21 hits out of the park, Lanphear added five in 2014 and has four so far this spring to bring her total to 30 bombs.
Freshman Tori Vidales is making her mark on Aggie Softball early in her career. After a two home run weekend, Vidales and her 17 bombs moved into a tie for the seventh place spot on single-season home run leaderboard and only seven dingers out of the top spot. Vidales has taken her place on the single-season walk list as well, moving up to seventh after the weekend outing against LSU.
THEY CAN GO ALL. THE. WAY.
The Aggie bullpen has gone the distance this season, with senior Rachel Fox and junior Katie Marks throwing 28 complete games through 51 total contests. Most recently, Fox added another complete game victory with her part in the 5-2 victory over LSU and Marks went the distance in a 13-0 victory over Lamar.
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) and Ashley 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 return 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. 25 spot in both national polls. The Aggies' 2015 opponents in the top 25 are No. 1 Florida, No. 2 Oregon, No. 5/6 Alabama, No. 3 LSU, No. 17/19 Kentucky, No. 8 Auburn and No. 7 UCLA. In addition, South Carolina 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 12thMan.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 close out regular season play this weekend, hosting Ole Miss in the 2015 home finale. 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