Story By Marissa Avanzato, Texas A&M Athletics Communications
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The No. 24 Texas A&M softball team (25-6, 4-3 SEC) fell 11-3 to No. 4 Alabama (27-4, 7-3 SEC) in the series opener Thursday night at Rhoads Stadium.
Alabama got off to a hot start in the bottom of the first inning, taking a 5-0 lead after an RBI single and a grand slam. The Tide plated another run in the bottom of the third to go ahead 6-0.
Senior Kelbi Fortenberry got things started for the Maroon & White in the top of the fifth inning with a leadoff double to right field. The East Bernard, Texas, native used her speed to score from second on an Alabama fielding error to get the Aggies on the board. Makinzy Herzog reached on a fielder’s choice and Haley Lee launched her 13th home run of the season to cut the Aggies’ deficit in half, 6-3. A walk by Shaylee Ackerman and a single by Dani Elder gave Texas A&M a chance to tie the game, but Alabama would hold its 6-3 lead.
The Crimson Tide loaded the bases twice in the bottom half of the inning and capitalized on all of their chances, plating five runs to end the game in five innings to take game one of the series, 11-3.
Makinzy Herzog (9-2) earned her 11th start of the season, striking out one in 2.2 innings, while Kayla Poynter struck out three in 1.2 innings of work.
Offensively, Dani Elder led the team with two hits with Lee finishing with two RBI and a home run. Fortenberry and Ashlynn Walls each recorded a hit of their own in the Aggies’ loss.
KEY INNINGS
B1 | Alexis Mack got on base with a bunt to the pitcher. KB Sides walked and Bailey Hemphill was hit by a pitch. Kaylee Tow singled through the right side to score Mack. Claire Jenkins homered to left field with the bases loaded. UA 5, A&M 0
B3 | Lexi Kilfoyl walked and Jenna Johnson pinch ran for her. Maddie Morgan singled to left field advancing Johnson to second. Elissa Brown singled up the middle as Johnson would score. UA 6, A&M 0
T5 | Kelbi Fortenberry doubled to right field. Walls reached first on a Crimson Tide fielding error and Fortenberry scored from second. Makinzy Herzog reached on a fielder’s choice and Haley Lee homered to left field. UA 6, A&M 3
B5 | Elissa Brown singled to second base and Alexis Mack was hit by a pitch. KB Sides walked to load the bases. Bailey Hemphill singled to centerfield to score both Brown and Mack. Kaylee Tow reached on a fielder’s choice to load the bases. Claire Jenkins doubled to right center as Sides and Hemphill scored. Lexi Kilfoyl singled to left center to score Tow. UA 11, A&M 3
Top Offensive Players:
Dani Elder| 2-for-3
Haley Lee| 1-for-2, 2 RBI, HR
Ashlynn Walls| 1-for-2
Kelbi Fortenberry, 1-for-2
Pitching Breakdown:
Makinzy Herzog (9-2) – 2.2 IP, 5 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 1 SO, 4 BB
Kayla Poynter – 1.1 IP, 5 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 3 SO, 3 BB
WHAT THEY SAID
Head Coach Jo Evans
On the walks and errors…
“Yeah that put us in a big hole and Alabama did a really nice job of taking advantage of it. I don’t know, maybe seven of those runs scored and that’s tough. You just put yourself in a hole when you’re chasing walks and hit batters and errors. I think there were three errors and we’ve got to clean that up for sure.”
On the team battling in the fifth with two outs…
I was really pleased to see that too, because it felt like a lopsided game. I just kept saying ‘Hey, listen, we need to extend this game and we need to play seven innings. Let’s keep them on the field. Let’s make their pitcher have to throw.’ I was so pleased with the way our kids kept fighting back and then those three runs were really important to us and it puts us right back in the game, but our walks and errors really caught up to us.”
ON DECK
Texas A&M continues its series at Alabama tomorrow at 5 p.m. at Rhoads Stadium. Friday’s game can be streamed on SEC Network+.