Ford's No. 4 Aggies 'about business' ahead of final SEC series at Tennessee

No. 4 Texas A&M softball is positioned among the top of the conference heading into the regular season series finale at No. 2 Tennessee. On TexAgs Live, head coach Trisha Ford joined the show to discuss what the team aims to accomplish, starting on Thursday.

Key notes from Trisha Ford interview

• There were quite a few games that were surprising this weekend. We didn't play well enough. It caught up to us. We definitely tried to make a comeback. We fought hard, but came up short in two games. It was nice for us to bounce back on Sunday for Senior Day and play our brand of softball.
   
• We talked at practice about resetting and what this weekend looks like for us. We are good enough. We just have to show up consistently. You don't need to be anything else, but who you are, and that's really good. Owning who you are, making sure we are executing at a high level, is what we need to do.
   
• Emiley Kennedy, I could talk about her for hours. She is a gamer. Kennedy is a senior. How many times have we seen her pitch better on day two of teams seeing her than on day one? That's incredible. It goes to show how elite her stuff is, and that is who they are prepping for. Their whole entire week is, “How do you beat Kennedy?” She comes out Friday and throws a good game. Then on Sunday, she absolutely shoves it. It shows a lot about who she is. To have someone on your staff when those situations come up, she gets even better. I think it speaks volumes about her talent.
   
• When we recruited Mac Barbara, we talked about catching and so some things have occurred. Ojo Johnson went down. I wanted to get a little more offense in our lineup. Barbara hadn't quite caught Kennedy a couple of weekends ago when we were thinking about this, and so we spent the last week of her catching Kennedy. That is a different slot and arm angle. I thought she did an amazing job. She had great communication with the umpire and great communication with Kennedy. It worked out well for us.
   
• Frankie Vrazel and KK Dement's processes are very business-like. They love to be coached. They work on their craft. All of those things are what we are seeing on the field. Vrazel is in and out of the lineup. That is hard for a senior, junior or sophomore. We are talking about a freshman. She continues to answer the call when her name is called. We put her in left, right as a pinch hitter. She has done it all. I look forward to having her for the years to come.
   
• I think that's been our big difference this year is our athleticism. Our ability to put Amari Harper at second, put her at first or put her in right field and not feel any change. Barbara can play first, DP or catcher. I think that is why we are where we are at right now is because we have unselfish players willing to do what it takes for us to win ball games.
   
• I am a very calm person. We did things in both games that were very uncommon for us this year. Things that rear their ugly heads. We had a nice chat on Sunday. We might have cancelled video and talked through the things I felt we needed to do for us to win games. It was recentering, refocusing and being held accountable to the situation.
   
• Scoring early is really important for us to get going early. It has been weird because every  program I have been a part of, that has been a thing. We are built to punch first. We’re built to keep punching. We haven't been out of any game. I think when you're trying to set the tone and win innings, that first inning becomes really big.
   
• I feel like, “Wow, it is already the last regular-season conference series.” We have been in the gauntlet. For us, it is a great opportunity to go see one of the great arms in the country. We have a top arm in the country. What a great opportunity for us to get in there and be able to see Karlyn Pickens, be able to face a team like Tennessee, and get us ready for the postseason.
   
• What we have to do is slow Pickens down. Making sure we are not chasing pitches out of the zone. If you start getting into a hurry and you start rushing, then the game becomes fast. In the box, we have some things we are looking for. We have to play clean defense. From their perspective, offensively, there are things we can exploit. We have to go play our game, and play it hard. We got a good chance. It is not like she has not been beatable. She's been beaten a couple of times this last week, and it is important for us to go out there and make it hard for her.
   
• For us, it is about business. We are leaving today. We are going to get on the plane. Have practice. This is our plan of attack. We have to play Aggie softball. It doesn't matter where we are at if we don't play Aggie softball.
   
• I think it all starts with Kennedy and Koko Wooley. Those two have been staples of our program. Some of the best to ever wear the uniform. I think that was hard to see on Senior Day. See people like Allie Enright and Kramer Eschete, who have poured their hearts and souls into this program.
   
• We have some really important personalities and program builders. It is going to be huge when we have to deal with them not being there. I don't think about it. I don't think about the day when I can't write #11 Kennedy or #3 Wooley in that lineup.