Cottrill's big swings highlight No. 23 A&M's 11-4 comeback win
Cottrill with the thrill.
No. 23 Texas A&M (32-18, 12-12) finished conference play and Senior Night off with a monumental win against the Missouri Tigers, 11-4.
With her dad, Jeff Cottrill, in the opposing team's dugout as Missouri’s assistant coach, Julia Cottrill put the offense on her back and carried the Aggies to victory, finishing with six RBI and two home runs.
“We are very competitive in our household, so we definitely had a household rivalry going on this weekend,” Cottrill said. “It was a really cool experience. Not very many people get to play against their dad in college. It gave me that edge to focus a little more this weekend.”
Those home runs brought in three runs apiece — both being two-out swings over the right field wall.
The Aggies overcame an early 4-1 deficit thanks to Cottrill’s valiant efforts and a seven spot in the fourth. Cottrill was not the only heavy hitter, though.
To start off the fiery fourth frame, Rylen Wiggins knocked a ball to the center-field wall and was able to place herself on third due to an error by Alex Honnold. Allie Enright sent the first home run of the day over the center field wall, adding two to the scoreboard for the Aggies.
Down 4-3, the comeback kids weren't done there.
Star Ferguson and Koko Wooley placed themselves on base, and Amari Harper singled through the middle to bring in the pair to put the Aggies on top, 5-4.
Trinity Cannon joined Harper on the bases with a walk, and Cottrill came in, slamming her first three-run bomb over the right field wall, blowing the game open for the Aggies. Her next at-bat, the junior throttled her fourth homer of the series and 10th of the year out of Davis Diamond.
“I am so happy for our team, to see us get punched and then punch back,” A&M head coach Trisha Ford said. “We’ve done that in some situations, but tonight, we did a great job of coming back and putting them away.”
Outside of a tremendous offensive showing, Emiley Kennedy shined in the circle, allowing only two hits and walking a pair, but perhaps the most impressive, held the Tigers’ offense scoreless through 5.2 innings pitched.
“Lefty came in and did lefty things,” Ford said of Kennedy. “I feel like she’s growing, and I am so dang proud of her, to be honest with you. I hope to see her for a lot of years and see her do a lot of big things.”
The Tigers never threatened to score outside of a last-ditch effort in the seventh, where an error and double put two aboard. With a line out to Koko Wooley, the game concluded, and the seniors said one last goodbye to Davis Diamond.
In year one under Trisha Ford, the Aggies have reached a .500 record in the SEC, which had only been done three times since joining the conference, with the last time being in 2018.
The Aggies are set to take on the Houston Cougars on the road on Wednesday, May 3. First pitch in A&M’s regular-season finale is set for 6 p.m. CT