The Texas A&M softball team begins its hunt for the program’s first SEC championship Wednesday when the Aggies face the overall nine seed South Carolina in the first game of the 2015 SEC Tournament. The eighth-seeded Aggies and Gamecocks are set to play at 4 p.m. CT. in the third game of the day in the opening round of play. If victorious, A&M will face the one seed Florida in the tournament quarterfinals. Texas A&M carries a 7-1 record in neutral site games into the week.
Texas A&M (38-17, 12-12 SEC) are making their second appearance in the league tournament after missing in 2014. The Aggies dropped a 10-9 heartbreaker to Alabama in their last conference tournament, propelled by a grand slam fromAmber Garza. Only three members of the current roster made an apperance in that game. Then-sophomore Brittany Clopton registered one hit and two runs, with Cali Lanphear adding two hits and an RBI of her own. Then freshman Alex Masek made an appearance, pinch running for current student assistant coach Jenna Stark, and scoring a run of her own.
The Aggies’ 2014 season ended in Norman last May after a 2-2 record in the NCAA Norman Regional. After taking a 7-6 victory over Hofstra to open the weekend, the Aggies dropped a 9-8 nailbiter to the host team Oklahoma. A 7-0 victory over Hofstra pushed the Aggies into the final game but the seniors left their cleats in Oklahoma after an 11-6 loss.
FOLLOW THE ACTION
In addition to watching the tournament on the SEC Network or WatchESPN, fans can listen to every game this weekend worldwide via RadioAggieland.com, or on mobile through the Radio Aggieland app. Live mobile stats are also available at tamustats.com. For an in-depth look at the team, follow @AggieSoftball on Twitter and like the Aggie Softball Facebook page (facebook.com/TAMUSoftball).
FRESHMEN TAKE SEC HONORS
Two Aggie freshmen took Southeastern Conference honors, announced by the league office on Tuesday. Hot on the heels of her first SEC Freshman of the Week honors, newcomer Tori Vidales earned a place on the All-SEC second team as well as a spot on the SEC All-Freshman team. Catcher Ashley Walters joined the third baseman on the All-Freshman squad, rounding out the program’s selections. This marked the first time an Aggie freshman has earned a place on any of the post-season teams since now junior Cali Lanphear was tabbed to the freshman team in 2013. Vidales has also saved herself a spot on the NFCA Top 25 Freshman list, announced in April.
AT FIRST GLANCE
The Aggies are currently riding a 38-17 record, surpassing last season’s win total prior to postseason play. Senior Rachel Fox currently leads the Aggies in the circle, owning a 22-12 record with 22 complete games, six shutouts and four saves. JuniorKatie Marks has also made an impact this spring, claiming a 13-2 record and nine complete games, with four shutouts of her own. The pair has combined for 35 wins, ten shutouts and 228 strikeouts. Freshman Tori Vidales leads the Aggie bats, with a .359 batting average, and paces the ball club with 48 runs, 56 hits, 18 home runs and 52 RBI.
LAST AT BAT
Most recently, Texas A&M completed a four-win week at home to take some serious momentum into the SEC Tournament. The Aggies continued their big hit streak, with both runs in a 2-1 victory over in-state foe Texas State coming off homers. Junior Cali Lanphear added her eighth dinger of the year, moving up in the career home runs record book. Freshman Ashley Walters added the second run to the scoreboard, going yard for the second time in three games to bring her season total to three homers. The Aggies completed their second sweep of league play over the weekend, taking down Ole Miss in three consecutive games to close regular season play.
SCOUTING SOUTH CAROLINA
The Gamecocks hold a 36-19 record, 10-14 in SEC play, and are coming off a 2-1 weekend at home against Mississippi State. Away from the friendly confines of Columbia, the Gamecocks hold a 6-2 mark in neutral sites. SC is led in the circle by Nickie Blue, who boasts a 1.70 ERA and a 19-7 record. Offensively, Alaynie Page is on top of the ball club, pacing the Gamecocks with a .444 batting average and 80 hits, adding in 57 runs, 15 home runs and 45 RBI.
COMING IN HOT
The Aggies enter postseason play riding a four game win streak, their second longest of the season and it couldn’t come at a better time. Texas A&M will face South Carolina in the first round of the SEC Tournament. The Gamecocks are coming off a 2-1 weekend with wins over Mississippi State, moving into the 9th seed after the victories. The Aggies swept South Carolina at home earlier this season and completed their second sweep of the year this past weekend against Ole Miss.
KS FOR DAYS
Senior Rachel Fox and junior Katie Marks are dominating in the circle, logging 35 wins in 55 games, surpassing last year’s total of 30 before hitting postseason play. Both pitchers fanned season-high batters in the last two tournaments of the spring, with Fox sending 11 Illinois State batters back to the dugout at the Texas A&M Invitational and Marks taking down six against Syracuse at the Mary Nutter Classic. Fox fell just short of her season high against UTSA, fanning 10 batters in a 5-2 victory.
THE POWER OF YOUTH
With the Aggies losing their top three hitters from 2014, the ball club was looking for power coming into this spring. The freshman and sophomore classes have found their way into the top five places in each batting statistical category and lead eight. Freshmen Tori Vidales, Kristen Cuyos, Erin Houthoofd and Ashley Walters have combined for 32 of the team’s 60 homeruns and Vidales leads the team with 48 runs scored. The future is looking bright for the new bats.
YARD WATCH
The Aggies have exhibited some powerful hitting so far this season. Here is a list of players who have made deposits in the home run tank during the 2015 season:
GRAND SLAMS:
1 Cali Lanphear – Feb. 6 vs Utah
Tori Vidales – Feb. 7 vs UCLA
April Ryan – April 15 vs Lamar
HOME RUNS:
18 Tori Vidales
9 Cali Lanphear
8 Kristen Cuyos
7 Breanna Dozier
April Ryan
4 Celena Massey
3 Ashley Walters
2 Reagan Boenker
1 Erin Houthoofd
Erica Russell
OH WHAT A RELIEF IT IS
The Aggies have been making full use of their pitching staff, with the relief pitchers shining in early weeks of play. Senior Lauren Ainsley and junior Katie Marks has particularly strong performances at the SoCal Collegiate Classic and senior Rachel Fox proved she can do more than take over from the top at the against South Carolina, coming in to take over in the final victory of the three-game sweep. Sophomore Abby Donnell saw her first extended effort in the circle against Mississippi State and earned her first win of 2015, allowing just three hits in over five innings of work in the come-from-behind victory. Donnell added another relief W to her column during the Aggies’ sweep of South Carolina. Ainsley made two appearances over the last week, pitching three innings and allowing zero hits against Georgia Tech as well as taking the circle against North Texas. FreshmanKayla Ober has made her own mark late in the season, showing out during a two-inning stint against LSU, allowing only a single hit and holding the Tigers scoreless for the first two consecutive innings in the series. Fox picked up her fourth save in the series sweep of Ole Miss, pitching the final inning of Saturday’s 8-6 victory.
FINAL LANDING PLACE
While the batting order has shuffled around throughout the beginning of the season, one name has stayed in the same position, senior Brittany Clopton in the leadoff spot, until the last three weeks where she has found a new resting place: the nine hole. Near top of the list in hits, Clopton has 54 all together and at one point reached the bags in 11 consecutive games, going hitless in only 11 outings.
MOVIN’ ON UP
With two homeruns in the Aggies’ 11-5 win over Alabama and one against Texas State and Ole Miss, junior Cali Lanphear moved into ninth place on the Aggies’ career home runs list. After a freshman year that saw her crush 21 hits out of the park, Lanphear added five in 2014 and has four so far this spring to bring her total to 35 bombs.
Freshman Tori Vidales is making her mark on Aggie Softball early in her career. After adding three homeruns in the final two weekends of SEC play, Vidales and her 18 bombs moved into a tie for the fourth place spot on single-season home run leaderboard and only five dingers out of the top spot. Vidales has added her name to several other places on the team’s leaderboards, including eight-best single season RBI total (52), a tie for seventh single season runs (48), sole posession of the sixth spot in single season walks (45), and a tie for sixth in total bases (120).
THEY CAN GO ALL. THE. WAY.
The Aggie bullpen has gone the distance this season, with senior Rachel Fox and junior Katie Marks throwing 31 complete games through 55 total contests. Most recently, Fox added two more complete game victories with her part in Friday and Saturday’s wins over Ole Miss and Marks went the distance in a 13-0 victory over Lamar.
GOING BACK TO CALI
The Aggies have become a mainstay in postseason action, taking at the NCAA Tournament in 24 consecutive seasons. Texas A&M has a 69-52 record in tournament play with three conference championships, five super regional titles and eleven trips to the WCWS. The Aggies most recently traveled to Norman, Okla., in 2014 where they compiled a 2-2 record.
THE 2015 AGGIES
In its third season in the Southeastern Conference, Texas A&M welcomes seven newcomers to the 2015 squad with freshmen Kristen Cuyos(Pearland), Erin Hoothoufd (Beach City), Kayla Ober (Katy), Hailey Rebar (San Antonio), Erica Russell (Bryan), Tori Vidales (La Porte) and Ashley Walters (Kerrville). Returning to action are five sophomores, four juniors and an incredibly experienced four-member senior class. The Aggies will have to replace a prolific group of eight seniors from 2014 but retain four members of their pitching staff and several fresh faces who worked their way up the stat columns last season.
WELCOME BACK
The Aggies return 13 student-athletes from the 2014 squad, including an experienced pitching staff and plenty of hitting power. Right-handed pitchersRachel Fox and Katie Marks led the Aggies in 2014, putting together 30 wins with a combined 193 Ks. Sophomore April Ryan is A&M’s leading hitter, batting .295 with 43 runs and 40 RBIs.
RANKING THE AGGIES
Texas A&M currently stands in the No. 22/25 spot in the national polls. The Aggies’ 2015 opponents in the top 25 are No. 2 Florida, No. 1 Oregon, No. 4/5 Alabama, No. 8 LSU, No. 24/25 Kentucky, No. 6/7 Auburn and No. 6/7 UCLA. In addition, South Carolina and Mississippi State are receiving votes.
SEC PRESEASON POLL
The Southeastern Conference coaches predicted a No. 9 finish for the Aggies in 2015, finishing behind No. 1 Florida, No. 2 Alabama, No. 3 Kentucky, No. 4 LSU, No. 5 Georgia, No. 6 Missouri, No. 7 Auburn and No. 8 Tennessee. Rounding out the preseason poll are No. 10 South Carolina, No. 11 Mississippi State, No. 12 Arkansas and No. 13 Ole Miss. Nine of the 13 SEC softball teams appeared among the nation’s top-25 in the USA Today/NFCA Preseason Poll. Points for the SEC poll were awarded on a 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12 basis. Coaches were not allowed to vote for their own team. The SEC did away with East-West divisions after the 2012-13 season in all sports but baseball and football.
FOLLOW THE AGGIES
Get the latest news, updates and action from Aggie Softball by following the team’s official Twitter account @AggieSoftball. Fans on Facebook can also stay connected by liking the Aggie Softball page (facebook.com/TAMUSoftball).
LISTEN LIVE
Aggie Softball fans worldwide can listen to each game of the 2015 season live on 12thMan.com. All contests are provided by The Zone and can be heard on smartphones and HD radios via the Radio Aggieland app. Select games are also available in the Bryan-College Station area on Sports Radio 1150 AM. Every game will be live online at RadioAggieland.com and 12thMan.com.
MOBILE LIVE STATS
Fans who wish to follow the action of each game this season can also receive free, instantaneous live stats on any computer or smartphone by visiting TAMUstats.com. Users can access current live stats and stats from past games.