Texas A&M
21-6, 3-2
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Mississippi State
19-6, 2-3
Late Inning Rally Helps No. 19 Aggies to Win over Mississippi State
Mar 14, 2015 | Softball
COLLEGE STATION, Texas – The No. 19 Texas A&M softball team trailed by as many as five on Saturday before scoring five runs in the top of the seventh to win 10-8. With the win, the Aggies (21-6, 3-2 SEC) evened the three-game series, 1-1, and the Bulldogs (19-6) fall to 2-3 in conference play.
The Aggies got going early offensively against the Bulldogs, scoring two in the first inning. Senior Brittany Clopton led off for the Aggies and took her base after a passed ball on the third strike gave her time to speed down the line. A sacrifice bunt from sophomore Abby Donnell moved Clopton into scoring position at second and a double to the left center field wall from sophomore April Ryan scored Clopton. A throwing error on the Mississippi State catcher allowed Ryan to round the bases for home and a 2-0 Aggie lead.
MSU answered in full force, scoring seven runs, including a grand slam, to take a 7-2 lead in the bottom of the first. Sophomore Abby Donnell entered to relieve senior Rachel Fox, seeing her third action of the year in the circle and getting the Aggies out of the inning.
After a scoreless second inning, both teams would scratch one more across to keep the gap at five runs. Ryan walked on four pitches and advanced on another throwing error and a ground out from freshman Ashley Walters. Standing at third, Ryan scored her second run of the day on a single through the left side by freshman Kristen Cuyos for another Aggie run that was answered by the Bulldogs.
The fourth inning went without either team able to get anything going offensively, despite the Aggies stranding two runners on the bags.
A&M began to mount its comeback in the top of the fifth, after a homer from Cuyos scored herself as well as junior Cali Lanphear, who took a base after being hit by a pitch, for a 8-5 game in favor of the Bulldogs.
Donnell continued her inspired relief work, not allowing a Mississippi State hit until the bottom of the sixth inning and shutting down any other scoring opportunities for the opponents.
Texas A&M took control of the game in the seventh inning for good. Lanphear led off with a walk and Cuyos followed with her third hit of the day, a double to right field, putting both runners in scoring position. Sophomore Reagan Boenker battled through a long at bat before walking on a full count and an illegal pitch from the third Bulldog pitcher of the day, Alexis Silkwood, advanced Cuyos to third and forced Lanphear home.
With the game within two for the first time since early in the home portion of the first inning, a hit that dropped in shallow left field put freshman Erica Russell on first and Cuyos scored one-behind run. With runners on first and second, junior Breanna Dozier heard her number called to pinch hit.
Dozier stepped up to the plate and hit her second home run of the year, and first since opening weekend, over the center field wall to give the Aggies a 10-8 lead, the first lead since early in the day.
Donnell secured the first out of the bottom of the seventh but MSU rebounded to put runners on first and second. With two outs remaining until the comeback was complete, senior Rachel Fox and sophomore Celena Massey came on to take over for Donnell and Walters.
Fox opened with a strikeout, sending the batter back to the dugout swinging, and a ground out to Ryan iced the game for the Aggies.
Coach Evans Post Game Sound
“Abby Donnell was phenomenal. She walked a couple kids but didn't hurt us, she got outs when she needed outs and she made plays on defense. I thought she looked great and kept them off balance, made them chase some pitches out of the zone. She threw strikes when she needed to and I'm so proud of her. She went out there and bore down.”
Let's Hear a Hullabaloo…
… for doing your job. The entire ball club battled and shone as the Aggies rallied from behind to beat the Bulldogs, including several members of the bench who heard their numbers called. Sophomore Abby Donnell was consistent and poised in her relief effort, senior Rachel Fox came in spirited and confident to close out the game and junior Breanna Dozier stepped up to bat with the fences in sight. Freshman Kristen Cuyos was 3-for-4 on the day and never wavered at the plate. Gig 'em, Aggies!
Coach Evans on the team win:
“Kristen Cuyos is getting a lot more comfortable at the plate, you can see that. She had a two-run home run in the fifth run to give us a chance and narrow the gap. We really needed that. Breanna Dozier, we are always looking to put her in in that exact situation. She's someone with incredible power who can go yard. We have three kids that we could have hit her for and those kids before Dozier did their job and helped us out. She got up there and was ready, she's done such a great job all year against lefties. She thrives in that situation, she looked so good and just crushed that ball. This was a total team win.”
Up Next
Sunday's rubber match between the Mississippi State Bulldogs and the Aggies will get underway at 1:05 p.m. The game can be heard on 1620 AM and the RadioAggieland app, as well as being broadcast on SEC Network +. Live stats can be found at 12thman.com and TAMUstats.com on your mobile device. Follow the Aggies on Twitter @AggieSoftball for all the latest updates, hits and pitches from the 2015 season.
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Donnell, Abby (1-0)
L: Alexis Silkwood (14-4)
S: Fox, Rachel (1)
Batting:
2B: Ryan, April 1 ; Cuyos, Kristen 1
HR: Dozier, Breanna 1 ; Cuyos, Kristen 1
RBI: Dozier, Breanna 3 ; Ryan, April 1 ; Cuyos, Kristen 3 ; Russell, Erica 1
SH: Clopton, Brittany 1 ; Donnell, Abby 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Clopton, Brittany 1 ; Dozier, Breanna 1 ; Ryan, April 2 ; Lanphear, Cali 2 ; Cuyos, Kristen 2 ; Ober, Kayla 1 ; Russell, Erica 1
HBP: Lanphear, Cali 1 ; Russell, Erica 1
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Batting:
3B: Katie Anne Bailey 1 ; Julia Echols 1
HR: Amanda Ivy 1
RBI: Julia Echols 1 ; Erika Gaul 1 ; Calyn Adams 1 ; Amanda Ivy 4
SH: Amanda Ivy 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Katie Anne Bailey 1 ; Julia Echols 1 ; Mackenzie Toler 1 ; Erika Gaul 1 ; Kayla Winkfield 1 ; Ashley Phillips 1 ; Loryn Nichols 1 ; Amanda Ivy 1
SB: Ashley Phillips 1 ; Loryn Nichols 1
HBP: Katie Anne Bailey 1 ; Mackenzie Toler 1 ; Kayla Winkfield 1 ; Ashley Phillips 2
