Texas A&M
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Mississippi State
#19 Aggies Head to Mississippi State to Face the Bulldogs
Mar 12, 2015 | Softball
COLLEGE STATION, Texas – The No. 19 Texas A&M softball team (20-5) heads to Starkville, Miss., to take on the Mississippi State Bulldogs this weekend, with the first pitch of the series coming at 5:35 p.m. on Friday. For the conference play portion of the series, @AggieSoftball will be releasing our #KeysToTheSeries weekly feature, including position battles, dominant streaks, hits, pitches and everything in between to get you ready for the weekend.
Scouting Mississippi State: The Bulldogs are coming off a 1-2 weekend to open conference play, dropping the series against No. 8 Georgia. A&M leads the all-time series 5-4 but the only game played in Starkville was won 7-3 by the Bulldogs on March 6, 2011.
Who can go All The Way?: Both bull pens enter the series with pitchers throwing a lot of innings. Senior Rachel Fox and junior Katie Marks have combined to pitch 17 complete games and have 19 victories in 2015. The Aggies are coming off a weekend that saw Fox pitching an eight-inning outing Friday night and turn around to throw seven more on Saturday. Marks pitched a full day on Sunday and added a five-inning victory over Sam Houston State on Wednesday to her week's toll. The Bulldogs will likely throw Alexis Silkwood at the Aggies on Friday, who has seen action in 16 of Mississippi State's 23 outings, and set a new career high last weekend for innings pitched in one outing, previously eight vs. Kentucky in the 2014 SEC Tournament. However, the rest of the MSU pitching staff combines for only a 5-2 record with no more than nine appearances by any single member.
Wire-to-Wire: The Aggies have grabbed on to the lead early and refused to let go in most contests. A&M has scored the majority of their runs in the first, second and fourth innings this year and has lost only one game when they've taken the lead in the first two innings. Mississippi State, on the other hand, is no stranger to being down. The Bulldogs have nine come-from-behind wins in 2015 and five walk-off wins. When tied or trailing in the fourth inning or later, the Aggies are not quite as strong as when taking early leads and the defense has allowed 30 of 57 total runs in the late portion of the game. Texas A&M will have to play strong from start to finish to take down the patient Bulldogs.
Maintaining Momentum: The Aggies enter the series having won their 20th game on Wednesday and fresh off defeating the higher ranked Kentucky Wildcats 2-1 to open conference play. Of A&M's five losses during the 2015 slate, the ball club hasn't dropped consecutive games and won 12 between the last two losses. The team will need to harness that energy and confidence heading into the first away series of the season, where the Bulldogs are off to a 15-3 start on their home diamond.
Power of the Youth: The ball club has been propelled through the beginning of the season by several new faces and younger players. The Aggies lost a great deal of experience and leadership with the 2014 class but the newcomers have stepped into their roles quite nicely. Of the 20 home runs so far this season, 11 have been hit by freshmen and 17 have been hit by underclassmen. The batting order typically features six underclassmen at the start of each game. Most of the hitting statistics categories are either led by or filled with underclassmen, with sophomore April Ryan and freshman Tori Vidales being featured among the top three in all but one batting category. As the younger players get more experience under their belt, the quality at-bats and strong defensive play exhibited in non-conference play will be critical to defeating Mississippi State.
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.
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