Friday, February 10
Bryan-College Station
5:00 PM
Texas A&M
2-0
6
vs
1
Northern Kentucky
1-1
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
R
H
E
Northern Kentucky
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
1
3
5
Texas A&M
0
1
4
1
0
0
X
6
6
0
Photo by: Texas A&M Athletics
Ford Secures 400th Career Victory on Day Two of Texas A&M Invitational
Feb 11, 2023 | Softball
BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Aggie softball triumphed in both its Friday games at the Texas A&M Invitational, giving head coach Trisha Ford 400 career victories with wins over the NKU Norse (6-1) and the Tarleton Texans (10-0).
Trinity Cannon reached base in all seven of her plate appearances on the day, going 3-for-3 with one double, one home run, three walks and one hit-by-pitch. She logged four runs and two RBI on the day. Amari Harper batted 3-for-5 with two ribbies. Gracyn Coleman hit 2-for-5 with a grand slam, a double, one walk, three runs and five RBI.
Morgan Smith and Allie Enright keyed a four-run third inning to break a 1-1 tie against NKU. The Aggies bashed four extra-base hits in a five-run first inning in the rout of Tarleton.
Aggie pitchers struck out 21 batters in 12.0 innings of work. In the night cap, Madison Preston (1-0) fanned eight while yielding one hit and five walks in 5.0 blank frames to earn the shutout.
UP NEXT
Texas A&M (3-0) returns to action at Davis Diamond with Saturday's games against Michigan State (3:30 p.m.) and Texas A&M-Commerce (6 p.m.).
KEY PLAYERS
Game One
Trinity Cannon – 1-for-1 with 2 BB, 1 HBP and 1 R
Shaylee Ackerman – 4.1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 7 K
Emiley Kennedy – 2.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 6K
Game Two
Gracyn Coleman – 2-for-2, 2 R, 1 2B, 1 HR, 1 BB, 5 RBI
Trinity Cannon – 2-for-2, 3 R, 1 2B, 1 HR, 1 BB, 2 RBI
Madison Preston – 5.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 5 BB, 8 K
SCORING SUMMARY
Game One
B2 | The Aggies benefitted from a pair of errors to break the scoring seal. Leadoff batter Gracyn Coleman reached when the Norse first baseman was unable to handle a throw from short and a throwing error by the third baseman on a grounder by Allie Enright put two runners in scoring position. With one out, Rylen Wiggins drew a six-pitch walk to fill the bags with Ags. Koko Wooley knocked in Coleman with a sacrifice fly to centerfield. A&M 1, NKU 0
T3 | Trinity Robertson laced a leadoff single down the right field line and Kaylee McGinn was hit by pitch. With one out, Ella LeMonier singled down the leftfield line, plating pinch-runner Victoria Flores with the equalizer. A&M 1, NKU 1
B3 | Starting the frame Trinity Cannon was hit by pitch and Bre Warren singled to centerfield. Morgan Smith singled to rightfield, driving in Cannon and Warren scored on a throwing error by the first baseman. With one out, Enright singled to rightfield, sending Smith home. After an Amari Harper single and sac bunt by Wiggins, Enright scored on a wild pitch. A&M 5, NKU 1
B4 | With one out, Cannon singled to centerfield. Pinch-runner Star Ferguson stole second base, moved to second on an error and scored ona double steal with Smith. A&M 6, NKU 1.
Game Two
B1 | Koko Wooley gapped a leadoff triple to left-center and scored on a throwing error back into the infield. Julia Cotrill and Trinity Cannon hit back-to-back doubles and after a Riley Valentine fly out to rightfield knocked Cannon over to second, Gracyn Coleman dropped an RBI double down the rightfield line. Texas A&M loaded the bases with walks by Bre Warren and Keely Williams and Amari Harper capped off the scoring in the frame with a two-run single up the middle. A&M 5, TSU 0
B2 | Cannon blasted a one-out dinger to right center. A&M 6, TSU 0
B3 | Rylen Wiggins bounced a single up the middle and Wooley drew a four-pitch walk to start the frame. With one out, Cannon was issued a base on balls to load the bases and with two outs Coleman roped a grand slam off the scoreboard in leftfield. A&M 10, TSU 0
POSTGAME QUOTES
Head Coach Trisha Ford
On today overall…
"Obviously two wins are two wins and I love W's. In the first game, I didn't love our energy if I'm being completely honest. We did a good job of getting some runs early and obviously finishing that game, but it challenged them. Especially with Tarleton. They're a good team and we were able to come out with better energy in game two. I thought we did a great job of executing. Shaylee [Ackerman] threw a great game in that first game and her ball was moving pretty well. [Emiley] Kennedy came in and just mowed them down, as she does. I'm super proud of Madison Preston and Graycn Coleman. Bre Warren's catch out of left field totally changed the momentum. Rylen Wiggins making that great play tagging third and throwing to first. Lots of good things from us. Just got to keep working and keep getting better."
On her 400th win and tomorrow's matchups…
"It's obviously great. I love wins. I don't really pay attention to that stuff, to be honest. I was happy with how our team played and tomorrow is going to be a big day. Playing Michigan State has a lot of meaning, Coach Sharonda McDonald-Kelley is an Aggie. We just got to come out and play our game, get ready to go and hopefully pick up some more W's."
Catcher Gracyn Coleman
On her 3rd inning grand slam…
"As a freshman, it is really important to me to present myself the right way, and I just had the mindset of calming down, and really focusing on myself, and really focusing on performing for the team. I was looking for the perfect inside pitch- I mean her speed was perfect. I love the fast pitch and love to just rope it. I was looking for the inside pitch and I honestly wasn't even looking to see if it was going out. I just started running, and then I heard everyone cheering."
On if the cold affected their game…
"I would say, personally, the first game sitting out, it did affect me. I just think as an athlete you need to have that strong mindset of: it's cold, but it's cold for everybody. It's cold for us, it's cold for the other team. Just having that mindset and really focusing on performing and the team and not the weather, it really helps a lot."
Pitcher Madison Preston
On returning to the circle for the first time in two years…
"It did take me a minute to be like, "Okay, you're alright. You did fine the first inning. You know how to pitch. Just calm down, you've been here before." Then it ended up all being okay which thank goodness. I definitely needed to throw between innings. Our hitters were raking. Then it was 2-3 outs, and I went out there cold. But it shouldn't have taken me four batters to get it going again but I guess I'll learn for next time."
Trinity Cannon reached base in all seven of her plate appearances on the day, going 3-for-3 with one double, one home run, three walks and one hit-by-pitch. She logged four runs and two RBI on the day. Amari Harper batted 3-for-5 with two ribbies. Gracyn Coleman hit 2-for-5 with a grand slam, a double, one walk, three runs and five RBI.
Morgan Smith and Allie Enright keyed a four-run third inning to break a 1-1 tie against NKU. The Aggies bashed four extra-base hits in a five-run first inning in the rout of Tarleton.
Aggie pitchers struck out 21 batters in 12.0 innings of work. In the night cap, Madison Preston (1-0) fanned eight while yielding one hit and five walks in 5.0 blank frames to earn the shutout.
UP NEXT
Texas A&M (3-0) returns to action at Davis Diamond with Saturday's games against Michigan State (3:30 p.m.) and Texas A&M-Commerce (6 p.m.).
KEY PLAYERS
Game One
Trinity Cannon – 1-for-1 with 2 BB, 1 HBP and 1 R
Shaylee Ackerman – 4.1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 7 K
Emiley Kennedy – 2.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 6K
Game Two
Gracyn Coleman – 2-for-2, 2 R, 1 2B, 1 HR, 1 BB, 5 RBI
Trinity Cannon – 2-for-2, 3 R, 1 2B, 1 HR, 1 BB, 2 RBI
Madison Preston – 5.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 5 BB, 8 K
SCORING SUMMARY
Game One
B2 | The Aggies benefitted from a pair of errors to break the scoring seal. Leadoff batter Gracyn Coleman reached when the Norse first baseman was unable to handle a throw from short and a throwing error by the third baseman on a grounder by Allie Enright put two runners in scoring position. With one out, Rylen Wiggins drew a six-pitch walk to fill the bags with Ags. Koko Wooley knocked in Coleman with a sacrifice fly to centerfield. A&M 1, NKU 0
T3 | Trinity Robertson laced a leadoff single down the right field line and Kaylee McGinn was hit by pitch. With one out, Ella LeMonier singled down the leftfield line, plating pinch-runner Victoria Flores with the equalizer. A&M 1, NKU 1
B3 | Starting the frame Trinity Cannon was hit by pitch and Bre Warren singled to centerfield. Morgan Smith singled to rightfield, driving in Cannon and Warren scored on a throwing error by the first baseman. With one out, Enright singled to rightfield, sending Smith home. After an Amari Harper single and sac bunt by Wiggins, Enright scored on a wild pitch. A&M 5, NKU 1
B4 | With one out, Cannon singled to centerfield. Pinch-runner Star Ferguson stole second base, moved to second on an error and scored ona double steal with Smith. A&M 6, NKU 1.
Game Two
B1 | Koko Wooley gapped a leadoff triple to left-center and scored on a throwing error back into the infield. Julia Cotrill and Trinity Cannon hit back-to-back doubles and after a Riley Valentine fly out to rightfield knocked Cannon over to second, Gracyn Coleman dropped an RBI double down the rightfield line. Texas A&M loaded the bases with walks by Bre Warren and Keely Williams and Amari Harper capped off the scoring in the frame with a two-run single up the middle. A&M 5, TSU 0
B2 | Cannon blasted a one-out dinger to right center. A&M 6, TSU 0
B3 | Rylen Wiggins bounced a single up the middle and Wooley drew a four-pitch walk to start the frame. With one out, Cannon was issued a base on balls to load the bases and with two outs Coleman roped a grand slam off the scoreboard in leftfield. A&M 10, TSU 0
POSTGAME QUOTES
Head Coach Trisha Ford
On today overall…
"Obviously two wins are two wins and I love W's. In the first game, I didn't love our energy if I'm being completely honest. We did a good job of getting some runs early and obviously finishing that game, but it challenged them. Especially with Tarleton. They're a good team and we were able to come out with better energy in game two. I thought we did a great job of executing. Shaylee [Ackerman] threw a great game in that first game and her ball was moving pretty well. [Emiley] Kennedy came in and just mowed them down, as she does. I'm super proud of Madison Preston and Graycn Coleman. Bre Warren's catch out of left field totally changed the momentum. Rylen Wiggins making that great play tagging third and throwing to first. Lots of good things from us. Just got to keep working and keep getting better."
On her 400th win and tomorrow's matchups…
"It's obviously great. I love wins. I don't really pay attention to that stuff, to be honest. I was happy with how our team played and tomorrow is going to be a big day. Playing Michigan State has a lot of meaning, Coach Sharonda McDonald-Kelley is an Aggie. We just got to come out and play our game, get ready to go and hopefully pick up some more W's."
Catcher Gracyn Coleman
On her 3rd inning grand slam…
"As a freshman, it is really important to me to present myself the right way, and I just had the mindset of calming down, and really focusing on myself, and really focusing on performing for the team. I was looking for the perfect inside pitch- I mean her speed was perfect. I love the fast pitch and love to just rope it. I was looking for the inside pitch and I honestly wasn't even looking to see if it was going out. I just started running, and then I heard everyone cheering."
On if the cold affected their game…
"I would say, personally, the first game sitting out, it did affect me. I just think as an athlete you need to have that strong mindset of: it's cold, but it's cold for everybody. It's cold for us, it's cold for the other team. Just having that mindset and really focusing on performing and the team and not the weather, it really helps a lot."
Pitcher Madison Preston
On returning to the circle for the first time in two years…
"It did take me a minute to be like, "Okay, you're alright. You did fine the first inning. You know how to pitch. Just calm down, you've been here before." Then it ended up all being okay which thank goodness. I definitely needed to throw between innings. Our hitters were raking. Then it was 2-3 outs, and I went out there cold. But it shouldn't have taken me four batters to get it going again but I guess I'll learn for next time."
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Ackerman, Shaylee (1-0)
L: Alicia Flores (0-1)
Batting:
RBI: Ella LeMonier 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Victoria Flores 1
HBP: Kaylee McGinn 1
PO: Kaylee McGinn 1
Batting:
RBI: Wooley, Koko 1 ; Smith, Morgan 1 ; Enright, Allie 1
SH: Wiggins, Rylen 1
SF: Wooley, Koko 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Cannon, Trinity 1 ; Ferguson, Star 1 ; Warren, Bre 1 ; Smith, Morgan 1 ; Coleman, Gracyn 1 ; Enright, Allie 1
SB: Ferguson, Star 2 ; Smith, Morgan 1
HBP: Cannon, Trinity 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
1
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
1
Players Mentioned
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OF
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OF
/ Softball
INF
/ Softball
P
/ Softball
P
/ SoftballOF
/ Softball
C/OF
/ SoftballOF
/ Softball
INF
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
INF
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