Trisha Ford, No. 14 Aggies ready for another competitive SEC series

After Emily Leavitt and Brooke Vestal combined for a no-hitter against Prairie View A&M, No. 14 Texas A&M turns its attention back to SEC play, hosting Kentucky at Davis Diamond. Head coach Trisha Ford joined TexAgs Radio to detail the team's approach to the weekend.

Key notes from Trisha Ford interview

• It was huge for us. Emily Leavitt threw a heck of a game. Brooke Vestal came in and finished things up. They were clean in the circle, and defensively, we had some different players on the field and new at-bats. So, we accomplished what we wanted out of that game. 
   
• Vestal did a great job coming out and pounding the zone. Her movement yesterday was what it was capable of being. She had a couple of 2400 RPMs, a ball going in every direction. She looked better and much cleaner. 
   
• Leavitt had her change-up working and command both sides of the plate. She got herself in tough situations and continued telling herself, “This next pitch. This next pitch,” and made big pitches when needed. Prairie View A&M swings the bat well if you look at their stats. They have kids that are hitting above .300 and some in the .350 range. It was nice for her to come out and pound the zone.
   
• If we shut them out, we win. Our work in the circle has paid off this year. We've developed and gotten better. Emiley Kennedy has been a beast, so again, how are we going to get better before this weekend? 
   
• At LSU, our first night's game went to extra innings, and we had so many opportunities. We left at least seven runners on base every game. A lot of things will have to go your way if you are going to leave that many on base. We scored early every game. We had the lead in every game, but we couldn't keep that pressure on them. We had things not go our way, but that's life. I'm excited to get back in Davis Diamond for Kentucky. 
   
• We have two solid days of practice, and to address things, we need to address and then go out there and compete. 
   
• We had our dogs up with a lot of opportunities and couldn't make it happen. It's how it goes. You're going to have off days in the circle and in the box. One particular day, we did not do well defensively, pitching struggled, and we didn't hit, so that was going to be a long day. 
   
• Mya Perez did a great job, and last night, she came through with some good hits. She had like three or four RBIs. She's coming through and getting her opportunities.
   
• That's the fun part: I enjoy the chess match and the “How can we win this situation or this pitch?” It can be mentally draining, and it's how you respond to it. I think this weekend was really hard, and I didn't love the way we responded. That is one of those things we are going to address this week. I know what we are capable of doing, so let's rise to this and let our preparation be the result that we are looking for. 
   
• Kentucky has a kid who is a senior in her last year. They took the series against Alabama. She is going to be pretty firm up and in with a change, and when you have those two different extremes, it is going to be hard.
   
• Pitching is about deception and messing up timing. They have some other pieces in the circle that will make it difficult. They have a lefty and a righty that complement each other. That is what the SEC is about. Every week, you are facing an All-American, how are you going to respond to that? 
   
• We've talked about instead of having an easy inning for the opposing pitcher, you have to get five hitters up to bat. You have to get seven pitches in an at-bat. It's the wear and tear throughout the game and in baseball and softball. 
   
• It is how many times can you get that lineup to turnover and how many pitches can you get that pitcher to throw? Those are the little things that, when you are looking at how to win ball games, those things become key factors. 
   
• I love competing, I love that feeling, I love the high of knowing you've done all the things to get you to this moment. It is the best part of life, competing in everything you do.