No. 21 Aggies early-starting seals win over Louisiana

BRYAN COLLEGE STATION, Texas –The No. 21 Texas A&M softball team earned its fourth straight victory by 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 first frame. Louisiana (30-12) responded with its own homer, before Julia Cottrill hit a single in a pair of runs in the second inning to give the Browns and Whites a 3-1 lead after two.

The Ragin’ Cajuns hit 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 southpaw allowed a single and a walk before retiring the next two batters, followed by Cottrill who put out a runner on third to end the inning.

Seeking to extend the lead, the Aggies missed a golden opportunity with the bases loaded and no outs, but could muster just one run of insurance to make it 4-2 after four innings.

Kennedy continued to fend off a relentless Ragin’ Cajun attack that chained four hits in the final three frames, while leaving five base runners on base. The Woodlands native earned her eighth win of the season going 4.0 innings with five strikeouts, while allowing no runs on five hits and two walks.

The Aggies finished the nine-game homestand with a slight 7-2 that included a top-five win over No. 3 Tennessee and an SEC series sweep of Mississippi State.

FOLLOWING

Texas A&M travels to South Carolina for a three-game series beginning Friday night at 5 p.m. at Carolina Softball Stadium.

AGGIE TOP 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

RATING SUMMARY

B1 | Trinity Cannon hit a solo shot to left center, her sixth homer of the season. TAMU 1, UL 0

T2 | Langeliers hit to left field. TAMU 1, UL 1

B2 | Julia Cottrill hit from the right side to score Morgan Smith after leading with a walk and Paige Lott after following with a single. TAMU 3, UL 1

T4 | Credeur launched a solo shot to the center right. 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 in general…
“It was a really good win for us. It was a great game. I think we did a lot of things well on both sides of the plate. I’m thinking Paige Lott, Star Ferguson and Riley Valentine first. do things to help our team and they do it every day in practice. It showed tonight. Paige got the start in left field with a big hit. Star Ferguson, same thing, had a great batting. Amari went down with just a bruise 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 did it. I thought it was appropriate that the last ball on the ground went to Valentine. Kennedy, again, the lights go out. It’s fun to watch. J hope we continue to see it grow and continue to use this change.

Trinity Cannon Inner Barrel
On the deciding factor…
“Early in the game we were disciplined in the strike zone and then we kind of let a few pitches go by. I think we got hits at the right time and took our walks when we needed to.”

Junior Catcher Julia Cottrill
On what worked to get his 2 RBI…
“I wanted to let the ball travel. I knew she wasn’t throwing a lot of shots. I don’t even know if the one I swung on was a shot. I knew she was keeping it low in the area, so I wanted to keep the ball on the ground and push at least one.”