Kennedy out-dueled in rubber match as Florida downs A&M, 4-2
Game #25: No. 3 Florida 4, No. 4 Texas A&M 2
Records: Texas A&M (21-4, 1-2), Florida (26-2, 2-1)
WP: Kara Hammock (6-0)
LP: Emiley Kennedy (6-3)
Box Score
In the opening week of Southeastern Conference softball, No. 4 Texas A&M and No. 3 Florida split the spoils of the first two games, putting immense importance on Sunday's rubber match.
However, it was the Gators’ barrage of batters that overpowered the Aggies’ lack of consistency on offense in a 4-2 win to claim the series in Bryan-College Station.
A&M had a golden opportunity to generate some first-inning offense after Koko Wooley and Kennedy Powell led off the inning with back-to-back singles. A&M’s second-best slugger, Mac Barbara, stepped into the batter’s box as a murmur of excitement filled the otherwise gloomy Davis Diamond air.
The anticipation was quickly quelled as Wooley made an ill-advised decision to steal third and was promptly picked off, squashing all momentum.
Barabara and Mya Perez both made contact, but the balls harmlessly fell through the spiraling winds and into the gloves of Florida outfielders to end the inning.
“The first inning and even the second inning, we had some opportunities to really set the tone, and we just didn't take advantage of it,” A&M head coach Trisha Ford said.
Jocelyn Erickson immediately stepped up for a stumbling Florida offense and launched a solo homer to right field to break the deadlock in the second.
After Emiley Kennedy hit sophomore Mia Williams with a pitch and walked the next two batters, the Gators smelled blood in the water with the bases loaded.
Kennedy and senior center fielder Kendra Falby, who entered with a .494 batting average, stared each other down, with the former winning the battle of wills and iced the Gators out with a strikeout, earning a gracious roar from the 12th Man.
However, Florida’s lead was short-lived as Olivia Johnson doubled in the bottom half to score KK Dement.
After an uneventful third inning, Florida filled the bases once more after another pair of walks, and Falby sauntered into the batter’s box again. She found more success the second time around and singled to left field to bring a runner home, making it 2-1.
As Ford’s freshman class has been known to do, Dement looked like a seasoned veteran when she responded straight away with a solo home run to left field that doinked off the scoreboard to equalize in the fourth.
It would be A&M’s final run.
The game hung in the balance until the sixth inning when Williams hit a bomb straight over Kennedy’s head and far past the center field wall to, again, put the Gators on top.
For the first time, though, A&M wasn’t able to counter with a score of its own and headed into the final frame needing a run.
“I felt like we never got momentum, if I’m being honest with you,” Ford said. “I felt like we were at best even, and we never took ahold of it. That’s what really good teams do. That is something we will have to address, get better at, and move forward from it.”
Florida’s unforgiving gauntlet of hitters continued to wear Kennedy thin, as two more walks and a single from freshman infielder Gabi Comia put a Gator on every bag. Reagan Walsh got ahold of the ninth pitch of her at-bat and lobbed a sacrifice fly to center field, bringing Taylor Shumaker home to make it 4-2.
“They hit the misses a long way, which is something that a good offense does,” Kennedy said. “They hit pitches that they probably shouldn’t hit, too, so they are a good hitting lineup.”
With their backs against the walls, the Maroon & White’s hopes for Davis magic came up empty.
After Florida’s defense quickly claimed two outs, Kramer Eschete walked on the seventh pitch of her at-bat and then advanced to second on a wild pitch, and Wooley followed it up with a walk.
The sea of Maroon in the crowd began to swell.
Powell put her cleats in the batter’s box, hoping to be the hero, but she tamely lofted a pop fly to left field for an anticlimactic ending.
There was no pixie dust in the Aggieland air on Sunday.
“There was moments of really good stuff,” Ford said. “Look at that last inning. We were in it. Obviously, there’s a lot of tweaking we need to do, but I thought overall, Friday and today a much better game plan, a much better execution of the game plan.
“We had opportunities to put the game away and just never did.”
The Aggies will head to Auburn, Ala., to take on the Tigers in a get-right SEC series starting on Friday, March 14.