Aggies Take Down Lehigh 2-1 to Open NCAA Tournament

Friday, May 15

Norman, Okla.

12:30 PM

Texas A&M

39-18

Lehigh

39-8

Lehigh

Texas A&M

May 15, 2015 | Softball

Box Score

COLLEGE STATION, Texas - The No. 24/25 Texas A&M softball team (39-18) defeated Lehigh (39-8) 2-1 on Friday, opening the NCAA Norman Regional with a win for the second straight season.

Jo Evans/Kristen Cuyos

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Senior Rachel Fox started the game in the circle for the Aggies, allowing only one run on five hits through five innings of work, adding in two strikeouts and issuing only one walk.

After three scoreless innings, Lehigh drew first blood in the top of the fourth. After a single and a hit batter, two consecutive sacrifice hits drove the first run of the day in from third base, giving the Mountain Hawks a 1-0 lead heading into the bottom of the fourth.

With one gone in the home half of the inning, freshman Kristen Cuyos stepped up to the plate and sent her ninth dinger of the year over the right field wall to tie the game at one all.

Sitting on a 1-1 tie, the Mountain Hawks threatened in the top of the fifth, loading the bases after three singles. Fox and the Aggies got out of the jam after a quick catch from senior Brittany Clopton turned into a double play, catching the lead runner out at home plate.

Back-to-back singles from Clopton and freshman Tori Vidales put two on base for the Aggies quickly in the bottom of the fifth. A sacrifice bunt from sophomore April Ryan moved both into scoring position before junior Cali Lapnhear reached on a fielder's choice, as Lehigh tagged Clopton out at home plate. With runners sitting on the corners, freshman Ashley Walters drilled a single into left field, advancing to second on the throw, giving Vidales plenty of time to give A&M its first lead of the afternoon. Junior Breanna Dozier drew a full count walk to load the bases but the Aggies wouldn't push anymore across, keeping their lead at 2-1.

After a leadoff double to start the sixth inning, junior Katie Marks entered the circle to relieve Fox, ending the inning with three quick outs to send the Aggies into the bottom of the sixth.

Freshman Hailey Rebar, pinch hitting for freshman Erica Russell, knocked a laser into right field in her first base hit of the game. Russell reentered to run at first, advancing on a sac bunt from Clopton, and Vidales was issued an intentional walk, putting runners on first and second for the Aggies. Neither runner could get home and A&M headed into the seventh holding a one run lead over Lehigh.

Marks and the Aggie defense shut down a late Lehigh threat, after singles put two runners on base, to end the game and send Texas A&M into the winner's bracket of the Norman regional, defeating the Mountain Hawks 2-1.

Coach Evans Post Game Sound

"I thought our kids played really good defense. We made some plays when we needed to make plays. I thought Lehigh did a great job of playing defense. They had no errors. They executed well. They played the short game really well. They're a well-coached team. I have a lot of respect for Lehigh. If you've ever heard me talk about them you know that. This is not a situation where we came in thinking we were going to have an easy game. We knew this was going to be a tough game. Their pitcher did a great job of throwing strikes. They didn't give us free passes. We had to earn everything we got. They did a great job of manufacturing a run in the one inning. I thought our team did a good job to make plays and get out of innings, in particular the inning they scored. I thought we did a nice job of getting out of that inning and giving them just one run."

Let's Hear a Hullabaloo…

…for stepping up in a big way. Both runs on the board came due to the freshman bats. Kristen Cuyos went yard for the ninth time in 2015 to tie the game at 1-1 and the Aggies took their first lead of the day on an RBI single from Ashley Walters. Gig 'em, ladies!

Coach Evans on Cuyos's homerun:
"I thought that was critical because they manufacture that run and then we come out and immediately score a run to tie it. I thought that was a key point in the game and to keep the momentum from shifting to their side. Kristen going up there and fouling some pitches off and then going with a pitch and hitting one out (opposite field), anytime you do that you know you're paying attention and doing what you need to do at the plate."

Coach Evans on Walters's clutch RBI:

"I was really pleased with Ashley because she had two opportunities in her previous two at-bats with runners in scoring position and she didn't get her job done. The third time she got up there she didn't feel sorry for herself, she wasn't moping or intimidated. She got up there and attacked the ball and got a big RBI for us. It turned out to be the winning RBI. I thought she did a really nice job to compete and learn something from her first two at-bats."

Up Next

The Aggies will take on the winner of 11-seed Oklahoma and Central Arkansas at 1:30 p.m. Saturday. Follow along with live stats at 12thMan.com and @AggieSoftball on Twitter for all the hits, pitches and everything in between during the 2015 softball season.