Credit to Tyler Pounds | Associate Director, Athletics Communications – 12thman.com
BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION, Texas – The No. 21 Texas A&M softball team secured its fourth straight win defeating No. 25 Louisiana, 4-2, Wednesday night at Davis Diamond.
Texas A&M (26-13) started the scoring early as Trinity Cannon hit a 261-foot solo blast to left center in the opening frame. Louisiana (30-12) answered with a home run of their own, before Julia Cottrill singled in a pair of runs in the second inning to give the Maroon & White a 3-1 lead after two.
The Ragin’ Cajuns blasted their second home run of the night to make it 3-2 in the top of the fourth before Emiley Kennedy entered the circle in relief. The hard throwing lefty allowed a single and a walk before striking out the next two batters, followed by Cottrill picking off a runner at third to end the inning.
Looking to extend the lead, the Aggies missed a golden opportunity with the bases loaded and no outs but were only able to muster one insurance run to make it 4-2 after four innings.
Kennedy continued to hold off a relentless attack from the Ragin’ Cajuns who strung together four hits in the final three frames, while leaving five base runners on base. The Woodlands native earned her eighth win of the season totaling 4.0 innings with five strikeouts, while allowing no runs on five hits and two walks.
The Aggies completed the nine-game homestand with a 7-2 leger that included a top-five win over No. 3 Tennessee and an SEC series sweep of Mississippi State.
UP NEXT
Texas A&M travels to South Carolina for a three-game series beginning Friday night at 5 p.m. at the Carolina Softball Stadium.
TOP AGGIE PERFORMERS
Trinity Cannon – 2-for-3, 1 HR, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 BB
Julia Cottrill – 1-for-3, 2 RBI, 1 BB
Emiley Kennedy (W 8-3) – 4.0 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 5 K
SCORING SUMMARY
B1 | Trinity Cannon knocked a solo shot to left center, her sixth home run of the season. TAMU 1, UL 0
T2 | Langeliers homered to left field. TAMU 1, UL 1
B2 | Julia Cottrill singled through the right side to score Morgan Smith after she led off with a walk and Paige Lott after she followed with a single. TAMU 3, UL 1
T4 | Credeur blasted a solo shot to right center. TAMU 3, UL 2
B4 | With the bases loaded, Koko Wooley walked to score Bre Warren who reached on an error. TAMU 4, UL 2
TEXAS A&M QUOTES
Head Coach Trisha Ford
On the game overall…
“That was a really good win for us. It was a great game. I thought we did a lot of things on both sides of the plate well. My mind first goes to Paige Lott, Star Ferguson and Riley Valentine. Just coming in and doing things to help our team and they do it every single day at practice. It showed up tonight. Paige got the start in left field with a big hit. Star Ferguson, same thing, had a great at-bat. Amari went down with just a contusion on her thigh, so she’ll be fine, but Riley Valentine hadn’t really practiced at second base. She played shortstop in high school so she’s kind of our option. We got it done. I thought it was fitting that the last ground ball went to Valentine. Kennedy, again, lights out. It’s fun to watch. I’m hoping that we just continue to see her grow and keep using that change up.”
Junior Infielder Trinity Cannon
On the deciding factor…
“At the beginning of the game, we were disciplined in the strike zone and then we kind of let some pitches go by. I think we got timely hits at the right time and took our walks when we needed it.”
Junior Catcher Julia Cottrill
On what was working to get her 2 RBI…
“I wanted to let the ball travel. I knew she wasn’t throwing very many strikes. I don’t even know if the one I swung at was a strike. I knew she was keeping it low in the zone, so I wanted to keep the ball on the ground and push at least one.”