No. 5 Texas A&M avenges Saturday's loss with doubleheader sweep
Game #21: No. 5 Texas A&M 4, Idaho State 1
Records: Texas A&M (19-2, 0-0), Idaho State (14-4, 0-0)
WP: Emily Leavitt (1-0)
LP: Lizzy Tommasini (2-2)
Save: Emiley Kennedy (2)
Box Score
Game #22: No. 5 Texas A&M 7, No. 13 Texas Tech 6
Records: Texas A&M (20-2, 0-0), Texas Tech (18-6, 0-0)
WP: Grace Sparks (5-0)
LP: Chloe Riassetto (3-1)
Save: Kate Munnerlyn (1)
Box Score
Through four weeks of the season, Trisha Ford's fifth-ranked Aggies have proven they can win in more ways than one.
On Sunday, Texas A&M provided two more examples as the offense and pitching proved to be ultra-reliable.
Back at Davis Diamond, the Maroon & White took both games of the doubleheader against Idaho State, 4-1, and No. 13 Texas Tech, 7-6.
"We got two Ws," Ford said. "The first game, it took us a little bit, but Idaho State is off to a really good start right now, and they are a scrappy bunch.
"The rematch against Tech, I thought, offensively, we did a good job and put up some crooked numbers."
Both contests threw challenges A&M's way, and Ford's squad fought through.
Sunday's twin bill was highlighted by a top-15 showdown between the former Big 12 foes.
After Texas Tech took the first meeting between the two on Saturday, A&M evened the score.
A four-run second kicked off the Aggies' successful outing against the Red Raiders.
Allie Enright's solo shot put A&M on the board before a pair of free passes helped the Aggies. A triple from Koko Wooley plated two before she ran home on a throwing error to take a 4-0 lead.
"It felt good," Enright said. "I have had a slow weekend, so it felt good for sure to get the team on the board first."
It wasn't long before Tech struck back and capitalized off a couple of A&M errors.
After doubling down the left field line, Hailey Toney advanced to third on a miscue from the Aggies, who later scored on an RBI groundout from Alexa Langeliers.
A&M's freshmen did their part in keeping the bats hot with an RBI double from KK Dement and an RBI groundout from Frankie Vrazel.
Ojo Johnson lifted a pitch out of Davis Diamond to increase the gap to five. From there, A&M did not score another run, and Tech continued to threaten.
A solo home run from Bailey Lindemuth in the fourth and three more runs in the fifth created some discomfort for the Aggies.
Grace Sparks' day was done after five innings of work, giving up six runs and seven hits. Ford looked to freshman Kate Munnerlyn to finish the job.
The rookie did just that, only allowing one hit and recording her first save of her young career.
"That's a lot of pressure," Ford said. "That's a high-leverage situation. I thought she did a great job."
A&M's close-call victory over the Red Raiders was preceded by a victory over Idaho State in the morning.
The Bengals drew blood first as a sacrifice fly gave Idaho State the lead in the third, yet the visitors would never regain it.
Emily Leavitt shined in her second start of the year. The senior threw six innings, only giving up one run and four hits while punching out eight.
After an eight-pitch top of the fourth for the righty, the momentum shifted, and timely hitting followed.
A lead-off single from Mac Barbara kicked off what became a three-run inning for the Aggies. SEC Co-Player of the Week Mya Perez doubled into left field, bringing up Amari Harper with two on base.
Harper plated both with a single to left, as A&M took a 3-1 advantage.
The Aggies tacked another run on in the sixth as Harper's second hit of the day scored Vrazel.
Down early and tested by Idaho State's Lizzy Tommasini, timely hitting was all it took for A&M to push past the Bengals.
Sitting at 20-2 after a 5-1 weekend at the Texas A&M Invitational, the Aggies will face their toughest test of the year as No. 3 Florida travels to College Station next week to open SEC play.
"We all need a day of rest to reset and get ready to play Florida," Ford said. "This weekend was huge. Every weekend we have played, we have played somebody big. As we have gone through the season, we have gotten better and better."