ATHENS – The No. 4 Texas A&M softball team run-ruled No. 16 Georgia, 8-0, in six innings, while Aggie ace Emiley Kennedy registered her 500th career strikeout in game one of Saturday's doubleheader at Jack Turner Stadium.
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Texas A&M (32-5, 7-3 SEC) sent all nine batters to the dish in the opening frame as the Aggies jumped out to a 5-0 advantage. Kennedy Powell led off reaching on a throwing error, while Mya Perez reached via hit-by-pitch. Mac Barbara received the green light on a 3-0 count for an RBI double to put the Aggies on the board, 1-0. Allie Enright earned a walk to load the bases before KK Dement blasted a grand slam to left center for her seventh home run.
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Aggie starter Emiley Kennedy yielded a walk in the bottom of the first before retiring the next six batters. Consecutive Aggie miscues led to Georgia (25-12, 4-9 SEC) baserunners on first and second with two outs before Kennedy recorded her fifth strikeout to end the third frame. Perez blasted a solo jack to left field in the top of the fourth to make it a 6-0 score.
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Ol' Sarge's charges entered run-rule territory after Enright singled through the left side to score Hailey Golden and Dement singled up the middle to score Enright, to lead 8-0 in the sixth.Â
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Kennedy began the bottom half by forcing a ground out and line out while the Bulldogs mustered a two-out single, before Lefty forced a ground out to the ensuing batter to end the game via run-rule, 8-0. The senior moved to 12-3 on the season and 5-1 in SEC action, while finishing the day with seven strikeouts in 6.0 innings of work and yielding only four hits and one walk.
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NEXT UP
Game two of the doubleheader is slated to begin Saturday at 4 p.m. on ESPN2.
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NOTES
-Emiley Kennedy started 18 of the 25 batters with a first-pitch strike, which marked a season-best 72% first-pitch strike percentage. The senior began the game with 3.1 hitless innings before Georgia mustered a single.
-Lefty went the distance for the fifth time in her sixth SEC start this season, while recording her second shutout.
-The Woodlands, Texas, native became the 10th Aggie pitcher to record 500-plus career strikeouts.Â
-KK Dement hit her second grand slam of the season in the opening frame, before finishing with a career-high 5 RBI. The freshman finished game one hitting 2-for-4, 5 RBI, 1 HR, 1 R.
-Mya Perez extended her on-base streak to 10 games after she reached base in each plate appearance. The sophomore went 1-for-1, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 2 R, 2 BB, 1 HBP. Perez has reached base safely in 36 games this season.
-Allie Enright reached base in each plate appearance to extend her career-high on-base streak to 15 games. The senior went 2-for-2, 2 BB, 2 R, 1 RBI, marking her 10th multi-hit game of the season.
-Texas A&M hit a home run in its seventh consecutive game while blasting multiple home runs for the ninth time this season.Â
-Game one's run-rule marked the team's 13th run-rule victory of the season and sixth run-rule in the last seven games.
-No scorigami. Today is the 99th time the Aggies have won 8-0 in program history and the second this season after defeating Villanova, 8-0, in five innings on opening weekend.
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Texas A&M (32-5, 7-3 SEC) sent all nine batters to the dish in the opening frame as the Aggies jumped out to a 5-0 advantage. Kennedy Powell led off reaching on a throwing error, while Mya Perez reached via hit-by-pitch. Mac Barbara received the green light on a 3-0 count for an RBI double to put the Aggies on the board, 1-0. Allie Enright earned a walk to load the bases before KK Dement blasted a grand slam to left center for her seventh home run.
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Aggie starter Emiley Kennedy yielded a walk in the bottom of the first before retiring the next six batters. Consecutive Aggie miscues led to Georgia (25-12, 4-9 SEC) baserunners on first and second with two outs before Kennedy recorded her fifth strikeout to end the third frame. Perez blasted a solo jack to left field in the top of the fourth to make it a 6-0 score.
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Ol' Sarge's charges entered run-rule territory after Enright singled through the left side to score Hailey Golden and Dement singled up the middle to score Enright, to lead 8-0 in the sixth.Â
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Kennedy began the bottom half by forcing a ground out and line out while the Bulldogs mustered a two-out single, before Lefty forced a ground out to the ensuing batter to end the game via run-rule, 8-0. The senior moved to 12-3 on the season and 5-1 in SEC action, while finishing the day with seven strikeouts in 6.0 innings of work and yielding only four hits and one walk.
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NEXT UP
Game two of the doubleheader is slated to begin Saturday at 4 p.m. on ESPN2.
Â
NOTES
-Emiley Kennedy started 18 of the 25 batters with a first-pitch strike, which marked a season-best 72% first-pitch strike percentage. The senior began the game with 3.1 hitless innings before Georgia mustered a single.
-Lefty went the distance for the fifth time in her sixth SEC start this season, while recording her second shutout.
-The Woodlands, Texas, native became the 10th Aggie pitcher to record 500-plus career strikeouts.Â
-KK Dement hit her second grand slam of the season in the opening frame, before finishing with a career-high 5 RBI. The freshman finished game one hitting 2-for-4, 5 RBI, 1 HR, 1 R.
-Mya Perez extended her on-base streak to 10 games after she reached base in each plate appearance. The sophomore went 1-for-1, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 2 R, 2 BB, 1 HBP. Perez has reached base safely in 36 games this season.
-Allie Enright reached base in each plate appearance to extend her career-high on-base streak to 15 games. The senior went 2-for-2, 2 BB, 2 R, 1 RBI, marking her 10th multi-hit game of the season.
-Texas A&M hit a home run in its seventh consecutive game while blasting multiple home runs for the ninth time this season.Â
-Game one's run-rule marked the team's 13th run-rule victory of the season and sixth run-rule in the last seven games.
-No scorigami. Today is the 99th time the Aggies have won 8-0 in program history and the second this season after defeating Villanova, 8-0, in five innings on opening weekend.