Credit to Tyler Pounds | Associate Director, Athletics Communications – 12thman.com
BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION, Texas – The No. 24 Texas A&M softball team run-ruled Texas State, 8-0, in walk-off fashion Wednesday night at Davis Diamond.
A 238-foot grand slam courtesy of Julia Cottrill put Texas A&M (27-18) in control of Texas State (26-19-1), 6-0 in the fourth inning, before the Aggies walked it off in the sixth compliments of Rylen Wiggins single to left center to score Amari Harper.
Despite battling a broken middle finger, Koko Wooley highlighted the night with her first career four-hit game finishing with three singles and one double. The sophomore also registered a stolen base and shined defensively with a pair of web gems.
Cottrill and Morgan Smith each ended the night with multi-hit games as Cottrill was 2-for-4 at the dish with four RBI and Smith was 3-for-3 with a run. Despite going 0-for-2, Trinity Cannon registered two RBI on the night with a bases-loaded walk in the fourth and a sac-fly in the sixth.
Starter Shaylee Ackerman held the Bobcats hitless through the first three frames before finishing the night after 4.0 innings and striking out one, while allowing only one hit and one walk for her sixth win of the season.
Texas State made a valiant effort in the following innings before the Maroon & White forced an inning-ending double to play to strand two runners in the fifth and back-to-back popups to strand two more in the sixth.
UP NEXT
Texas A&M travels to Ole Miss for their final SEC regular season road series beginning Friday at 5 p.m. at the Ole Miss Softball Complex.
TOP AGGIE PERFORMERS
Koko Wooley – 4-for-4, 2 R, 1 RBI, 1 2B, 1 SB
Julia Cottrill – 2-for-4, 1 HR, 4 RBI
Morgan Smith – 3-for-3, 1 R
Shaylee Ackerman (W, 6-6) – 4.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K
SCORING SUMMARY
B2 | Morgan Smith singled down the left field line and scored after Koko Wooley singled to shortstop. TAMU 1, TXST 0
B4 | Allie Enright walked, followed by Wooley with her third single of the night and Harper reaching on a fielder’s choice. Trinity Cannon walked to score Enright. Julia Cottrill blasted her second career grand slam to center field. TAMU 6, TXST 0
B6 | Wooley doubled, stole third and later scored following a sac fly via Cannon. Harper was hit-by-pitch, followed by back-to-back singles from Cottrill and Aiyana Coleman. Rylen Wiggins singled to left center scoring Harper for the walk-off win. TAMU 8, TXST 0
TEXAS A&M QUOTES
Postgame full interviews are available on 12thman.com/pressconference.
Head coach Trisha Ford
On today’s game…
“I was excited for the bounce back. I was wondering what tonight was going to look like and I was really impressed and proud of the fight that we had.”
Junior catcher Julia Cottrill
On her grand slam…
“I was hunting a strike. I didn’t do that my first two at-bats, so that was my goal in my third at-bat was to make an adjustment and hunt a strike.”
Sophomore infielder KoKo Wooley
On being ranked…
“It’s pretty amazing. It feels good to be able to play on this platform. It’s good for those little kids that look up to us. Just because you’re at schools who didn’t really do good your first year, doesn’t mean you can’t make a change the next year. I feel that the competitiveness is a lot of fun.”
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