The Texas A&M softball team continues early-season play with the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic beginning Thursday night against BYU at 7:30 p.m. and CSUN at 10 p.m. at Big League Dreams Park.
The Maroon & White are slated to meet No. 2 Oklahoma Friday night at 5 p.m., followed by two games Saturday night, beginning with No. 1 UCLA at 7 p.m. and Utah Valley at 9:30 p.m.
AGIES AT THE MARY NUTTER COLLEGIATE CLASSIC
This weekend marks Texas A&M’s 14th trip to the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic, formerly the Palm Springs Classic and Cathedral City Classic. The Aggies boast a 36-22 record, including a 12-13 mark against ranked opponents. A&M registered 18 straight wins from 2014-18. When facing the No. 1 team in the nation at the event, the Maroon & White are 2-4 with wins in 2005 over Cal, 5-2, and in 2017 against Florida State, 5-2. A&M last visited in 2020, posting a 3-2 record, including a win over No. 5 Arizona, 7-6.
NATIONAL RANKINGS
Texas A&M is No. 19 in the latest D1 Softball and Softball America national polls while receiving votes in the USA Today/NFCA and ESPN.COM/USA Softball rankings. Statistically, the Aggies are ranked in the top 20 in the nation in numerous categories, including No. 3 in walks (56), No. 3 on-base percentage (.476), No. 8 slugging percentage (.625), No. 14 batting average (.359) and No. 20 ERA (1.36).
RING OF FIRE
Led by sophomore Emiley Kennedy, the Aggie pitching staff has been hot in the circle posting a team ERA of 1.36 while giving up only 13 earned runs through 67.0 innings pitched. Kennedy boasts a 2-0 record, including two complete games. Most notably, the lefty hard thrower registered a career game beating No. 15 Arizona with a one-run seven-inning complete game effort while striking out a career-high eight batters. She followed the next day with a save in 3.0 IP with five strikeouts and no hits. Senior Shaylee Ackerman registered her first career seven-inning complete-game shutout while beating No. 20 UCF on Feb. 17, while only giving up three hits, one walk and striking out four.
BIG FISH ON CAMPUS
True freshmen Amari Harper, Keely Williams and Riley Valentine have made an early impact in the Maroon & White. Harper has started all 11 games at second base and leads the team in batting average (.550), while Williams has started all 10 games she has appeared in and boasts the team’s second-best on-base percentage (.556). In six starts and nine appearances, Valentine leads the team in slugging percentage (.882), home runs (3) and RBI (11).
Credit to 12thman.com