Robert Cessna
It's one thing to erase a two-run deficit against one of the worst softball teams in the Mountain West Conference. It's quite a different thing to rally from six down to beat a ranked team.
That's what eighth-ranked Texas A&M did against 20th-ranked Baylor on Friday night at Davis Diamond. The Aggies scored the game's last nine runs for a 10-7 victory on the second day of the Aggie Classic.
Both teams were 2-0 heading into the early season showdown between former conference rivals that both came up a win short of reaching the Women's College World Series a year ago. Baylor made a statement early by bolting to a 7-1 lead after four innings. The Bears had 10 hits, lining shots all over the Davis Diamond, roughing up a pair of A&M pitchers who didn't get much support from a defense that made three errors.
A&M's offense could muster only a pair of hits from the bottom two batters in the lineup. A&M was hitting .154 heading after four innings. But the Aggies erupted for four runs in the fifth inning on five hits and took the lead with a five-run sixth on four hits. A&M had four extra base hits in the onslaught capped by a go-ahead two-run double by Kennedy Powell followed by a two-run home run by graduate Mac Barbara.
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The crowd of 2,407 seemed to get louder with each hit and the place went berserk with Barbara's opposite-field shot over the left-center field wall. That had fans high-fiving and spraying bubbles everywhere.
"The crowd tonight was fantastic," A&M coach Trisha Ford said. "Those of [them] that stayed all the way, which most of them did, I did remind [them] that you never give up on us, because we will comeback."
Baylor rocked A&M for four runs in the second inning to build a 5-0 lead. The Aggies showed some life in the third. Freshman Frankie Vrazel had an infield hit and senior Kramer Eschete tripled for her fifth hit of the season.
"We also put pressure on them in the fourth inning as well," Ford said. "I thought in both of those innings we were moving in a good direction."
Vrazel and Eschete were big in both the fifth and sixth innings as well. Vrazel had an RBI double in the fifth that chased Baylor stating pitcher Lillie Walker and Vrazel had a bunt single in the sixth, eventually scoring the tying run.
Eschete walked in both the fifth and sixth to give her a perfect night at the plate. Vrazel, who was 3 for 3, is playing because junior Amari Harper got hurt Thursday.
"Frankie is just waiting for her opportunity," Ford said. "She did the same thing [in fall practice]. When she's got some opportunities out there, she did a heck of a job. The moment doesn't get too big for her."
A&M on Thursday got behind Utah State but wiped out 3-1 and 5-3 deficits en route to a 11-5 victory a team that finished last in the Mountain West last season.
A&M sophomore right-hander Sidne Peters, who allowed a go-ahead two-run homer against Utah State in relief struggled as a starter against Baylor. She was nicked for an unearned run in the first. Baylor strung together one-out singles by senior Presleigh Pilon, senior Turiya Coleman and junior Abi Flores to load the bases. Peters needed 10 pitches to strike out freshman Karynton Dawson and seemingly was out of the jam when senior Shaylon Goven hit a line drive on the ninth pitch of the at-bat, but A&M senior shortstop Koko Wooley couldn't make the catch.
Baylor rocked A&M for four runs in the second inning. Baylor's first two batters struck out. Senior leadoff hitter Brooklyn Carter reached on a swinging bunt single. Pilon singled sharply to center field and Carter who reached third on the single sped home with Baylor's second run when A&M freshman second baseman KK Dement held the ball that was thrown in from the outfield.
Coleman walked. Flores singled to center and Baylor aggressively sent Pilon home. The throw by senior center fielder Allie Enright beat the runner by several feet, but senior catcher Olivia Johnson couldn't handle the hot hopper, giving Baylor a 3-0 lead. Dawson followed with a two-run double to chase Peters.
A&M junior right-hander Grace Sparks, who was the starting pitcher against Utah State, retired the first four batters she faced but Carter had a leadoff single in the fourth which mushroomed into two runs with help from some shoddy defense. A&M didn't get an out on a ball hit to first by Pilon. A pair of grounders scored a run and then Sparks made an error on a weak grounder. Toven followed with a two-out RBI single to make it 7-1.
"We've got to figure out the pitching stuff, obviously, that's the biggest kind of sore right now," Ford said. "But we did some weird things defensively that didn't help us as well."
A&M senior right-hander Emily Leavitt stopped the bleeding with a solid 1 1/3 innings and then senior All-American Emiley Kennedy (2-0) closed with two hitless innings.
Left-hander Walker, a transfer from Duke, gave A&M fits with her changeup, showing why she was 12-1 last season with a 1.98 earned run average in helping the Blue Devils reach the WCWS. But after the first three A&M batters reached in the fifth Walker was lifted for Dariana Orme. The hard-throwing right-hander played in only three games last season to rehab an injury. The NCAA granted her a seventh season. She started her career at Frenso State, where she was recruited to the school by Ford who was there from 2013-16 before going to Arizona State.
A&M's batters were glad to see Orme, who gave up four hits and three walks in only 1 2/3 innings. Orme allowed Wooley to tie the game on a sacrifice fly. Orme was lifted after throwing a ball to Powell. Walker re-entered the circle. She had retired Powell twice on grounders, but Powell lined a 1-1 pitch into the right-field alley.
A&M on Saturday will play Abilene Christian at 4:30 p.m. followed by Villanova. ACU will play Purdue in the day's first game at 9 a.m. followed by Baylor against Utah State at 11:30 a.m. and Baylor against Villanova at 2 p.m.
Utah State beat ACU 9-3 in Friday's first game. Villanova lost to Purdue 7-5, but defeated ACU 10-8. Baylor beat Purdue 6-1 before playing A&M. Purdue junior Scarmardo, who played at College Station, pinch ran and played third against Villanova. Sage Scarmardo had a sacrifice fly against Baylor and she was hit twice by pitches. Scarmardo last year was hit 19 times to rank seventh in the country.
NOTES - Former Bryan High shortstop Steve Johnigan is in his fifth season as an assistant for Baylor softball coach Glen Moore. The former Aggie starting catcher in 1984-85 also spent two decades as a Baylor assistant baseball coach.
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