Aggies flatten Texas en route to the SEC Tournament title game, 14-2

Game #54: #2 Texas A&M 14, #3 Texas 2 (5 innings)
Records: Texas A&M (45-9, 16-7), Texas (46-10, 16-8)
WP: Emiley Kennedy (21-4)
LP: Mac Morgan (9-4)
Box Score

Sometimes, the first inning tells the entire story of the game.

No. 2 seed Texas A&M softball punched its ticket to the SEC Tournament championship game for the first time with an eruptive offensive performance in a 14-2 run-rule victory over rival No. 3 seed Texas.

The Aggie avalanche started immediately at the bottom of the first.

After left-handed pitcher Emiley Kennedy faced only three batters, the first six Aggies reached base safely, with RBIs from catcher Mac Barbara and first baseman Amari Harper blowing open a 3-0 lead.

Mady Mertens-Imagn Images

Texas A&M’s 12-run margin of victory is the largest by either squad in their 50 all-time meetings.

With Harper and Barbara already on the bags, the base-clearing specialist KK Dement stepped into the batter’s box, the 12th Man waiting with bated breath.

The freshman launched her 12th home run of the season over the center field wall, making the score 6-0 and marking the most runs given up in an inning this season by the Longhorns.

“I feel like it’s easy to get so big-headed in that moment,” Dement told ESPN’s Holly Rowe postgame. “But I was trying to be patient, and be calm. Once I hit the home run, I was so excited to get to home plate with my teammates.”

Following another 1-2-3 inning from Kennedy, the Maroon & White kept pouring on the punishment.

Wooley got on base with a single to left field and quickly advanced to third via a fielding error on what should have been a groundout from Mya Perez.

An RBI groundout from Barbara and a single from Harper in successive at-bats scored the pair and grew the Aggie lead to 8-0.

With the Longhorns reeling, Dement gave them no time to recover, blasting her second homer in as many at-bats over the wall, finishing with five RBI.

Switching to their third pitcher of the game, the Longhorns were able to limit the damage in the second inning, but not before Kramer Eschete drove center fielder Allie Enright home with a triple off the wall, pushing the lead to 11-0.

The third inning saw Kennedy retire all three batters she faced, extending her streak to eight.

Playing complementary softball, Harper smoked a no-doubter to right center, inciting a three-run Aggie catwalk around the bases and pushing the lead to 14-0 and setting an SEC Tournament record, plating six runs total.

Despite Kennedy’s complete game in the quarterfinal win over South Carolina, head coach Trisha Ford elected to keep her ace in the circle entering the fourth.

“We’re going to let (Kennedy) finish the game,” Ford told Rowe before the inning. “It’s important for us to get her ready for postseason. We want her to go back-to-back days and see how that looks, and I think she’s pitching a heck of a game.”

Desperately trying to prevent the run rule, Texas slowly put runners on base with three singles in the fourth, including an RBI single from catcher Reese Atwood to score two Horns.

The consolation runs weren’t enough for the Burnt Orange, though, as the Aggies kept them scoreless for the rest of the game to secure the victory in just five innings.

The Aggies will take on the No. 1 overall seeded Oklahoma Sooners in the SEC Tournament championship as both ballclubs vie for their first title.

First pitch is scheduled for 12 p.m. CT on Saturday, May 10, and will be broadcast on SEC Network.

“We know we are good enough to be here,” Dement told Rowe. “We are going to come out tomorrow with a bang.”