The Texas A&M softball team faces UCLA in the Women’s College World Series’ first elimination game at 11 a.m. Saturday at USA Softball Hall of Fame Stadium.
Coverage of the game can be seen on ESPN with Adam Amin, Amanda Scarborough and Laura Rutledge on the call. Radio coverage of the game can be heard locally on Willy 1550 AM.
Texas A&M enters Saturday’s contest with a 47-12 record. Riley Sartain leads the team with a .350 average and 48 RBI. Sartain is also second on the team in home runs at 12. Tori Vidales paces the Aggies with 17 long balls and is second on the team in RBI at 46. Texas A&M holds a 2.01 team ERA, led by Trinity Harrington (14-3, 1.93 ERA) and Samantha Show (19-7, 2.20).
In their first game at the WCWS on Thursday, the Aggies fell to top-seeded Florida, 8-0, in five innings. Keeli Milligan led the team, reaching base twice on a walk and single. Kristen Cuyos, Sarah Hudek and Show each recorded a hit. Trinity Harrington suffered the loss to move to 14-3 on the season. The Greeley, Colo. native gave up four runs on five hits in two innings.
UCLA, the nation’s No. 5 seed, is 47-14 after falling to LSU, 2-1, in the first round of the WCWS. The Bruins are led by Delaney Spaulding, who holds a .384 average with 16 home runs and 43 RBI. Madeline Jelenicki is hitting .333 with 15 homers and 69 RBI. In the circle, UCLA holds a 2.52 team ERA, led by Rachel Garcia, who is 22-8 with 203 strikeouts and a 1.92 ERA. Selina Ta’amilo is 14-0 with a 2.79 ERA and 74 strikeouts in 103 innings.
Texas A&M and UCLA have met 19 times in school history as the Bruins hold a 10-9 advantage. The two teams met last season in College Station in which the Aggies won game one, 5-1, but fell in the teams’ second meeting, 7-3. The Aggies and Bruins have met six times Women’s College World Series as the Aggies hold a 4-2 lead. The two teams have had three games go into extra innings at the WCWS.
The winner of Saturday’s game will face the loser of the Oklahoma-Washington on Saturday, June 3 at 6 p.m. on ESPN.
