COLLEGE STATION, Texas — After the No. 1 seeded Aggie softball team forced a decisive Game 7 Sunday afternoon with a gritty 14-11 win over 8 innings against Liberty, A&M’s season came to a shocking end Sunday night when they dropped Game 7, 6-5 to the Flames.
The Aggies become the first number one overall seed to be eliminated in a regional since seeding began for the NCAA tournament back in 2005.
“You know, there was so much good about this season and it's just hard because of how this finished,” Aggie head coach Trisha Ford said. “I think Liberty did a heck of a job. They're always scrappy just how their coach is…these kids work their tails off all year, they earned everything that was given to them, and we also earned this loss. I mean, that's unfortunate, but, you know, it wasn't on my bingo card, to be honest with you.”
The Aggies held on to a 3-0 lead early, but a solo shot in the top of the fifth and a 5-run top of the sixth for Liberty gave the Flames a 6-3 lead. The Aggies got 2 runs back in the bottom of the 6th but were unable to complete the comeback in Game 7.
Seven seniors, who were all major contributors to this team, may have played their final game in an Aggie uniform, but they set a standard for those returning to continue following next season.
“I think they had, just grit, and they definitely left it out on the field, defensively and offensively,” junior Amari Harper said, “And we just have to take that momentum going into this next year and keeping it, for our young ones coming in, for our sophomores now and just keep them fired up and make this motivate them even more.”
Despite coming up well short of their postseason expectations, this A&M team was one that always left it all on the field.
“I want us to be remembered by our grit,” junior Kennedy Powell said, “I think we were, we weren't going to go down without a fight, and I think we fought to the very last out of any and every game we played and so I think that's what I want this team to be known as or known for.”
This one will sting for quite some time considering A&M's historic season, their SEC tournament run, and of course their postseason hopes after earning the No.1 overall seed in the NCAA tournament. Seven seniors left their cleats at home plate, leaving the program better than they found it, but we'll have to wait until next season to see how this group of returners will respond.
