Texas A&M defeats Tulsa behind Smith's six scoreless innings, 6-0

The No. 6 Aggie softball team (9-0) continued to pile up wins, blanking Tulsa 6-0 at the Aggie Softball Complex behind strong pitching and timely hitting.

Senior Lexi Smith got the start in the circle for A&M and made her first start of the season count. She pitched six shutout innings with eight strikeouts before handing the ball over to Payton McBride to close the game out. 

“My spin and location of my pitches worked really really well today,” said Smith, who missed the first week of the season with an illness. “And just getting ahead of hitters — that was my main goal to make my pitches and get them to go after what we wanted them to go after, which is what they did.”

Smith’s best inning came in the fifth, after issuing a bunt single and two walks to load the bases. She managed to pitch out of the jam without surrendering a run.

“When Lexi’s on, she’s on and they really can’t touch her,” third baseman Riley Sartain said of Smith. “It’s kind of incredible just to see her, she’s been sick all week so it’s really great to see her out in her element.”

The Aggies broke the game open in the third inning when Sartain singled home Ashley Walters after she drew a walk and advanced on the throw to second. Sarah Hudek followed with an RBI-double and McBride finished the inning with an RBI single.

A&M would score three more in the bottom of the fifth. Walters came through again with a two-RBI double and Sartain drove her in with a sac fly. Both Sartain and Walters looked sharp offensively and had timely hits, finishing with two RBI and a run apiece. In addition to finishing out the game on the mound, McBride ended with two hits and an RBI.

Earlier in the day, the Aggies took down Iowa in walk-off fashion — Tori Vidales hit a home run to left field to win 3-2 in the final frame.

“It’s great to get two wins today,” head coach Jo Evans said after the win over Tulsa. “I thought we showed great resiliency today.”

The Aggies will wrap up the Texas A&M Invitational Sunday against Butler. First pitch is set for 12:15 p.m. and the game will be broadcast on the SEC Network +.