No. 19 Softball Tames Bearkats for Twentieth Win of 2015

Wednesday, March 11

College Station

6:30 PM

Texas A&M

20-5

Sam Houston State

7-15

Sam Houston State

Texas A&M

Mar 11, 2015 | Softball

Box Score

By: Texas A&M Athletics

COLLEGE STATION, Texas – The No. 19 Texas A&M softball team won their 20^th game of the season, taking down Sam Houston State 9-1 in five innings on Wednesday.

Junior Katie Marks pitched her sixth complete game of the season and allowed just two hits, fanning four batters, in her sixth win. Freshman Tori Vidales paced the Aggies with three hits in three at-bats, scoring twice and notching two RBIs.

The Aggies got on the board in the bottom of the first. Vidales took her base after being walked and sophomore April Ryan followed with a single to left field. Junior Cali Lanphear loaded the bases after being walked and, on the third Aggie walk of the inning, freshman Ashley Walters forced Vidales home for the first run.

After a scoreless second, the Bearkats made a pitching change in the third inning still trailing by one. The Aggies loaded the bags with three straight singles from sophomore Abby Donnell, Vidales and Ryan. Lanphear reached first on a fielder's choice but Donnell was thrown out at home, keeping the bases full for the Aggies. Another fielder's choice, this one from Walters, caught Lanphear out at second but not before Donnell could find her way home, giving the Aggies a 2-0 lead.

Sam Houston chipped away at the Aggie lead on a solo shot home run just over the left field wall in the top of the fourth but Marks shut down the Bearkat attack to keep the lead at 2-1.

Sophomore Reagan Boenker lead off with a walk in the home portion of the fourth. A ground out from freshman Erica Russell moved Boenker to second and senior Brittany Clopton walked to join her on the bags. Donnell, in the designated player position, hit her third double of the year to left field, sending Boenker and Clopton rounding the bases for the first two runs of the inning.

With a runner in scoring position, Vidales stepped up to the plate and singled to left center and recorded her first RBI of the night when Donnell took off for home. SHSU made another pitching change in an attempt to squash the Aggie attack but it proved futile.

Ryan singled to left center and made her way to second on the throw, with Vidales advancing to third and both runners in scoring position. A laser up the middle from Lanphear scored Vidales and a throwing error allowed Ryan to cross the plate for the fourth and fifth runs of the inning. Walters earned her team-leading third RBI of the game on a single up the middle that called Lanphear home but was thrown out at second.

With two outs and the bases empty, freshman Kristen Cuyos's first hit of the night dropped into center field for a single but she was stranded as the Aggies exited the fourth inning with an 8-1 lead after scoring six runs on six hits.

Marks's fifth K came to open the fifth and, after allowing her only walk of the night, the A&M defense clamped down to force the Bearkats to leave a runner on base.

A leadoff walk from Russell opened the bottom of the fifth. Freshman Hailey Rebar came on to pinch hit and was walked, putting runners on first and second for the Aggies. A single through the right side gave Vidales her second RBI of the game and Russell's run ended the game at 9-1 in five innings.

Coach Evans Post Game Sound
“It was great to see our kids come out swinging early on. I thought we were taking some pitches and drawing walks to get the timely hit early and our kids jumped right on the pitching change. I thought we did a nice job with every pitcher they threw at us. We were prepared, aggressive and got pitches in the zone to hit. Katie [Marks] threw a really nice game and she looks really comfortable. She's throwing strikes on both sides of the plate and has a nice presence, I'm really pleased with what she's doing for us.”

Let's Hear a Hullabaloo…
… for shutting it down. The Aggie defense has been tough all season and has really clamped down the past fourteen games, allowing just 22 runs with four shutouts, fielding .975. The pitching staff has a combined 1.43 ERA and the ball club has only lost one game in the past three weeks. Gig 'em, Aggies!

Coach Evans on the defense:
“We made it a point of emphasis when we came back from Christmas break to make sure we could hang our hat on defense. We spent a lot of time on defense and worked a lot of defensive sets in practice. Now we're able to just fine tune and do what we need. Our kids know what they're doing and I'm really pleased to see how they manage the game. Kristen [Cuyos] and Tori Vidales make plays and make it look really easy. I thought Cali Lanphear got some good reads, got a lot of chances and did a nice job.”

Up Next
The Aggies will travel to Starkville, Miss., to take on Mississippi State March 13-15. The games can be heard on 1620 and 1510 AM and the RadioAggieland app, as well as broadcast on SEC Network +. Live stats can be found at tamu.statbroadcast.com or TAMUstats.com on your mobile device. Follow the Aggies on Twitter @AggieSoftball for all the latest updates, hits and pitches from the 2015 season.