Oh, so sweep! No. 12 A&M downs Rebels twice on Sunday in final home series
Game #45: No. 12 Texas A&M 7, Ole Miss 2
Records: Texas A&M (36-9, 14-6), Ole Miss (25-21, 3-14)
WP: Shaylee Ackerman (7-1)
LP: Aynslie Furbush (2-6)
Save: Emiley Kennedy (5)
Box Score
Game #46: No. 12 Texas A&M 2, Ole Miss 0
Records: Texas A&M (37-9, 15-6), Ole Miss (25-22, 3-15)
WP: Emiley Kennedy (19-7)
LP: Grace Sparks (5-1)
Box Score
On Senior weekend, it’s a Sunday series sweep for No. 12 Texas A&M against Ole Miss.
The Maroon & White have now officially recorded three SEC series sweeps and have shown their strengths as a team.
“We’re playing Aggie softball,” head coach Trisha Ford said. “This is fun. I keep coming back to this, and they’re starting to understand that with competing their tails off every single pitch. There’s a lot of joy in that.”
A&M started the second game of the series on Saturday afternoon after a time change, in hopes of missing the rainy weather.
Unfortunately, that was not the case, as the Aggies had to put a pause on the game in the top of the fifth to resume on Sunday morning.
After Friday’s series-opening win, Sunday’s pair of victories, 7-2 and 2-0, completed the sweep.
Shaylee Ackerman started Saturday’s game with a walk but quickly changed her tempo and added a K to her record.
Amari Harper set the tone offensively for the Aggies early with her first career homer.
Scoring the second run for the Maroon and White was Kramer Eschete after a wild pitch was given to walk Jazmine Hill. Hill distracted the Rebels as she stole 2B, allowing Eschete to make it home.
Just after the first inning, the rain started to pour in unexpectedly, causing the game to pause for almost an hour.
Getting back on track, Ole Miss’ Aynslie Furbush hit a homer off Ackerman to score their first run.
Going into the fourth, A&M was up 4-1, with two outs and bases loaded, thanks to three walks in a row from Ole Miss’ Brianna Lopez.
With a single from Julia Cottrill, three runs were able to run home for the Aggies.
As the rain started to pick up, Ackerman allowed some walks, putting three on. A Rebel single scored their second run right before the game was postponed until first thing Sunday morning.
Picking up where they left off, Ford decided it was Emiley Kennedy’s time to shine as she quickly struck out a Rebel to close the top of the fifth.
“Hitting is all about pitch selection and timing,” Ford said. “That’s what I was telling coach [Jeff] Harger after the game is I think we didn’t score a lot of crooked numbers, but I felt like that was a hard (pitching) staff, quite honestly, to face.
“I thought we did a really good job of figuring out ways to win ball games.”
“Lefty” kept the Rebels quiet at the plate as the Maroon & White kept the score at 7-2, adding another win to their record.
But the series wasn’t all they wanted.
They wanted the full sweep.
That sweep became a reality as Kennedy stepped into the circle and pitched seven innings of shutout ball.
“Emiley Kennedy was lights out all day today,” Ford said. “That kid’s just special. I feel like she got better as the game went.”
After a quick three-up-three-down in the bottom of the first, the Aggies kept Ole Miss from scoring, and provided some offense soon after.
“I felt like their hitters felt a little frustrated in the box today,” Ford said. “We could sense some things, and so her and I just strategized of, ‘Hey, if they’re going to continue to look a little frustrated, let’s continue to expand the zone,’ and I thought she did a tremendous job.”
Back in the box, a walk and two singles were just what the Aggies needed to start a movement and score their first run.
“I think we’re meshing really well,” A&M infielder Rylen Wiggins said. “We’re handling business when we need to. We’re getting timely hits. We’re forcing the defense to make plays, and our pitchers are just really killing it. I’m feeling really good with our team overall.”
Soon after, A&M loaded the bases but only managed to piece together one run due to a wild pitch from Lopez and conclude the scoring at 2-0.
“I felt like after the first (Alabama) game, the team decided, ‘Hey, we’re gonna come out and compete our tails off and go back to what we do well,’ and that’s what you’re seeing,” Ford said. “This is what we are.
“This is what Aggie softball should look like.”
“The sweep was huge for us, especially going into our [bi-weekly games] that we need to win,” Kennedy said. “It’s a really good step going into Florida in the next couple of weeks.”
The Aggies will return to Davis Diamond to play the University of Houston on Tuesday, April 23. The first pitch is set for 6:00 p.m. CT.