#22 Aggies Fall in Opening Round of SEC Tournament

Wednesday, May 6

Baton Rouge, La.

4:00 PM

Texas A&M

38-18

South Carolina

37-19

South Carolina

Texas A&M

Aggies Fall in Opening round of SEC Tourney

May 06, 2015 | Softball

Box Score

COLLEGE STATION, Texas - The No. 22/25 Texas A&M softball team (38-18) was unable to hold off South Carolina (37-19), falling 6-3 to the Gamecocks on Tuesday.

After a scoreless first inning, the Gamecocks took the first lead of the afternoon after dropping a two-RBI single into right field to go up 2-0.

The Aggies got on the board in the home portion of the third, starting with a full count walk issued to junior Cali Lanphear. After stealing second on a wild pitch, Lanphear was sent home on an RBI double to the center field wall from freshman Ashley Walters. With Walters sitting in scoring position on second, sophomore designated player Celena Massey drew a walk to put two on for A&M with one gone. Junior Breanna Dozier dropped a single in left field, giving Walters plenty of time to come home and tie up the game. A sacrifice fly from freshman Kristen Cuyos pushed Massey and the leading run across home plate.

Leading 3-2, neither team could scratch any runs across until the top of the sixth, when a solo home run over right field for South Carolina tied the ballgame at three all. Back-to-back singles and a hit batter loaded the bases for the Gamecocks and a bases-clearing double all the way to the wall put Carolina back on top 6-3.

After Marks entered in relief, the Aggies managed to escape the inning with just the four Gamecock runs. Texas A&M would put two runners on in the bottom of the sixth, Vidales reaching on a shallow single to right field and Lanphear joining her at first, but couldn't capitalize and entered the final inning trailing by three.

The Aggies tried to mount a comeback in their final at bats, with Dozier reaching on a fielding error to get things started. Cuyos drew a full count walk to put two Aggies on but neither were able to reach home and A&M fell 6-3 to South Carolina.

Coach Evans Post Game Sound

""It's obviously a really disappointing loss for us. We got down two runs. I thought we did a great job of getting out of that inning, turning a double play and keeping it at two runs. An inning later, we step up and get some nice play and put some hits together. I thought our situational hitting in that inning was very good. I was really pleased to see us get some runs on the board. Rachel Fox was rolling along after those two runs she gave up early. Obviously in hindsight, I need to get her out of there. I went out there after two outs, and (South Carolina) got the home run to tie the game. I still felt like she's fine. She's going to be alright here. I went out and talked to her. (Fox) said, 'I want to finish this inning, and then you can get me out. Take me out for the seventh inning.' She's our ace. She's our fighter out there. She's our senior. When they got the bases loaded, I didn't have another conference. I said, 'Thumbs up or down, do you want this kid or not?' She gave thumbs up and wanted her. She gets her (South Carolina's Victoria Williams) down 0-2 and makes a pitch that the kid hits hard. In hindsight, I should have taken it out of her hands. She is such a competitor, and I got caught up in 'She wants this, she's got it. It's two outs, and she can just make a pitch and get us out of here.' Instead, they got a big hit. I put that on me. I'm disappointed. As a coach, you want to give your kids every chance to win. That's a situation I didn't do that. That's disappointing to our ball club. Our team deserves better than that."

Up Next

The Aggies will find out Sunday night where they will be headed for NCAA Regional play. 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.