Series evens as No. 4 A&M is run-ruled by No. 3 Florida on Saturday

Game #24: No. 3 Florida 12, No. 4 Texas A&M 4 (6 innings)
Records: Texas A&M (21-3, 1-1), Florida (25-2, 1-1)
WP: Ava Brown (6-0)
LP: Grace Sparks (5-1)
Box Score

No. 4 Texas A&M was run-ruled by No. 3 Florida in six innings on Saturday afternoon, 12-4. The Aggie pitching staff struggled to limit the Gators’ high-powered offense.

Grace Sparks got the nod in the circle but recorded just one out, giving up four runs off two hits and two walks.

“Great pitchers figure it out, and she is a very, very good pitcher, so she just has to learn from it and get better,” A&M head coach Trisha Ford said. “I think she let that moment get to her, and it spiraled.”

Sydney Lessentine checked into the game for 4.2 innings but did not stop Florida’s hot bats as Kate Munnerlyn finished the game out for the Aggies but allowed three runs off three hits.

“You have to be able to execute pitches in the correct level of the zone at this level, or balls leave the park,” Ford said.

Four home runs was another issue the pitching ran into, with the wind blowing left to right.

“Today was not a good representation of who we are,” Ford said. “I feel like when you are facing a top-tier team, you have to have all things going on all cylinders, and I didn’t feel like any facet of our game was played at a super high level today.”

Florida scored four runs in the first inning, but A&M regrouped with two of its own runs to cut the deficit in half.

A&M’s first run came when Allie Enright reached on a fielder's choice with the bases loaded, and a throwing error permitted Kennedy Powell to cross the plate. KK Dement skied a ball into foul territory with enough room for Mac Barbara to tag up and score on the sacrifice fly.

The fifth inning was the only other inning that the offense generated anything, with a Barbara RBI single up the middle and a Dement sacrifice fly to center field that scored Scout Lovell.

With only five hits and six left on base, there was nothing more the Aggies did to inch their way back into the game.

“There wasn’t a lot I felt like our hitters were doing well today,” Ford said. “We have to get that big hit when we need the big hit, and we didn’t get the big hit when we needed it.”

On the other hand, Florida found success with 11 hits and only three left on base as Ava Brown pitched a complete game.

Jocelyn Erickson and Reagan Walsh each picked up three RBIs for the Gators as Walsh smashed two home runs.

Eight of the 12 runs scored came after the four-run first with a three-run fourth, one-run fifth and a four-run sixth.

“They kept putting pressure on us, and I didn’t feel like we kept putting pressure on them,” Ford said.

With the way A&M’s season has gone with only three losses, there is no need to hit the panic button.

“Our season is not going to end if things don’t go our way,” Ford said earlier this week. “You’ve also seen us rebound and respond this year. I feel like, more so than any other year that we’ve been here.”

A&M will face Florida on Sunday at Davis Diamond, with first pitch set for 12 p.m. CT.