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Texas A&M Softball splits day two of the Aggie Classic

Posted at 11:24 PM, Feb 09, 2019
and last updated 2019-02-10 00:24:38-05

COLLEGE STATION – No. 20 Texas A&M Softball defeated Northern Colorado via the run-rule, 9-1, before falling to UNT, 10-2, in five innings on day two of the Aggie Classic Saturday at Davis Diamond.

Against Northern Colorado, eight Aggies recorded a hit as the Maroon & White outhit the Bears, 10-1. Haley Lee blasted the first home run of her career as she led the Aggies at the plate after going 2-for-3 with two RBI, two runs and a double.

Payton McBride moved to 2-0 on the season after only allowing one run while fanning four in five innings of work.

The Mean Green jumped out to an early 4-0 lead in the second and added six runs in the third to defeat Texas A&M. UNT’s pitcher, Jenna Goodrich, stymied the Aggies, only allowing two hits and two walks and not giving up a run. Hope Trautwein gave up three hits and two runs while walking one and recording one strikeout in 1.2 innings of relief.

Kayla Poynter was saddled with the loss to move to 1-1 in her sophomore campaign. The Loganville, Ga., native, recorded one strikeout while giving up two walks and four runs in 1.2 innings. Hannah Mayo threw 0.2 innings in relief, allowing one hit, five runs and three walks before McBride threw the final 2.2 innings of the game while walking one, fanning three and allowing two hits and one run.

KEY INNINGS
vs. NC

B2| The Aggies struck for five runs in the second beginning with a double from McBride and base hit up the middle from Gabby Moreno to plate Madi Jatzlau, who pinch ran for McBride. Moreno advanced on a single to left by Ashlynn Walls before stealing home to give the Aggies a 2-0 lead. Kylie George delivered a double down the left field line, allowing Walls to touch home followed by a Kelbi Fortenberry single through the left side to plate George. The fifth run of the inning came as Riley Sartain blasted her third double of the season to push Fortenberry home. A&M 5, NC 0

B3| The Maroon and White added a run after Haley Lee doubled and scored on a Kelly Martinez single to right. A&M 6, NC 0

T5| Dani Young homered to left to give Northern Colorado their only run of the game. A&M 6, NC 1

B5| Sartain took advantage of an error to reach base before Baylee Klingler earned a walk allowing for Lee to blast a three-run shot over the left field wall to secure the victory in five innings. A&M 9, NC 1

vs. UNT

T2| A walk to Jenna Goodrich and back-to-back singles from Rhylie Makawe and Kenzie Young loaded the bases. Hanna Rebar took advantage of a bases-loaded walk to plate Goodrich for UNT’s first run of the game. Base hits by Katie Clark and Harley Perella scored Makawe, Young and Rebar to give the Mean Green an early four-run lead. UNT 4, A&M 0  

T3| Goodrich walked for the second time of the game before Rebar hit a three-run shot over the left field wall. UNT took advantage of consecutive walks to Sam Rea and Nicole Ochotnicki and singles from Clark and Perella to advance and plate them to add two more runs to their lead. Clark scored the last run of the game on a sacrifice fly. UNT 10, A&M 0

B5| Martinez led off the inning with a single to left before George, who pinch ran for Martinez, advanced on a single from McBride and passed ball and touched home after a sacrifice fly from Walls. Sinnie, who came in to run for McBride, scored on a Fortenberry single up the middle. UNT 10, A&M 2

Top Offensive Players:

Haley Lee | 2-for-5, 2 RBI, HR, 2B, 2 R

Payton McBride | 2-for-3, 2B

Pitching Breakdown:

Payton McBride (2-0) – W, 7.2 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 7 K, 1 BB

Kayla Poynter (1-1) – L, 1.2 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 1 K, 2 BB

Hannah Mayo – 0.2 IP, 1 H, 5 R, 0 K, 3 BB

WHAT THEY SAID

Head Coach Jo Evans

On the pitchers’ performance against UNT…

“It starts in the circle. Everybody knows that. We didn’t do a good job of attacking the strike zone. UNT did a nice job of making our pitchers throw strikes and when they didn’t, they took their walks. They had six walks in the first three innings. We were behind in the count. There were a lot of hitter’s counts and opportunities for them to see balls over the plate. They took advantage of it. I tip my hat to North Texas. They took walks when we didn’t. They got scoring opportunities and made the most of them.”

On hitting well in the first game…

“We did a really great job with two outs. Gabby Moreno, in particular, got up there and got a big two-out hit. Then we kept passing the bat back. Our kids did a really nice job offensively. We were attacking the strike zone. The thing we did really well in that first game is we really understood the strike zone. We weren’t chasing pitches. We managed strike zone well, struck the ball well and took them out of the game.”

Junior Pitcher Payton McBride

On the team’s offense in the second game…

“I think we were just being really aggressive and trying to swing at balls that we shouldn’t have been swinging at. We weren’t as relaxed and confident in trying to get base hits like we had done the first three games. We switched our game plan near the end of the game and once we relaxed we were able to get those runners on base and score them.”

Freshman Catcher Haley Lee

On hitting her first career home run…

“As soon as I hit it, I was super excited. I was so proud of myself because all my hard work is paying off. Everything is starting to come together so that made me happy. I can’t wait to call my sister. I was super excited and can’t wait to do it again. I got the ball that I hit. I’m going to give it to my Mom and Dad.”

ON DECK 

The Aggies are back in action Sunday at 12:15 p.m. against California Baptist to close out the Aggie Classic. The game can be seen live on SEC Network + and heard locally on Willy 1550 AM.

STAY CONNECTED
Fans can follow the Aggies wherever they go by following @AggieSoftball on Instagram and Twitter or on Facebook at Facebook.com/TAMUSoftball.