The fifth-ranked Texas A&M Softball team closed out a five-game homestand Wednesday night as they defeated the Texas State Bobcats, 5-1, behind a one-hit performance by Samantha Show at the Aggie Softball Complex.
Show struck out three, allowing just one walk and one hit en route to her 11th win of the season. The sophomore didn’t allow a base runner after the first inning, retiring 19 straight to close out the game.
Texas State (24-6) drew first blood posting one run in the first frame. With two outs and the bases full of Bobcats, Christiana McDowell came around to score on a misplay by the Aggie defense.
The Aggies (29-3) took the lead with three-run fourth inning. Kaitlyn Alderink reached base on an error and was plated by a Riley Sartain double down the left-field line. With her team leading, 28th RBI, Kristen Cuyos scored Sartain with a single to left. Sarah Hudek capped off the inning with a double to left, allowing Cuyos to touch home.
Two insurance runs came in the fifth with a Tori Vidales long ball. The junior blasted her seventh home run of the season over the left field wall to give the Aggies a 5-1 lead.
Texas State’s Randi Rupp was saddled with the loss, giving up five runs, three earned, on five hits with four strikeouts in 4.1 innings.
The Aggies return to action on Saturday for the beginning of a three-game series at South Carolina. The first and last games can be seen on the SEC Network, while Sunday’s game can be found on ESPNU.
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Texas A&M Quotes
Head Coach Jo Evans
On the offense…
“You can see the maturity in our team. We got through the whole batting order and nobody had a hit and nobody got on, but we didn’t panic. The next inning, we got up and got ourselves going. We took advantage of [their error] and got some hits behind it. We knew it was going to be a tough night against [Randi] Rupp, so I was happy to see our kids get their timing and go the other way with the pitch. I am happy to see them swinging it.”
On Samantha Show…
“She needed that. She struggled a little bit, but we have been working hard on her confidence and getting her to where she needs to be. I thought tonight once she got through that first inning, she really relaxed and kept us in the game so that we could go up there and get some hits.”
On Erica Russell’s defense…
“Erica Russell makes it look easy and it is not easy at all. I don’t think I have seen her leave her feet and not catch the ball. She leaves her feet when she knows she can catch it and she gets there and her timing is perfect. She also knows when she just has to turn and run it down. That’s instinct. It is hard to coach that. She is such a spark plug for our team. I don’t care what her batting average is. She takes away so many base hits for us and keeps us in games. She is just a ball of fire and her energy is contagious.”
On the upcoming South Carolina series…
“South Carolina had a huge win last weekend against Alabama. They are a team that can be a little up and down, but they have good pitching. They are a good ball club and are well coached. It is not easy playing on the road, but we are looking for series wins right now. It will be a big series for us. We are looking forward to it. This win is really important for us to get some momentum going into this weekend and feeling good about ourselves.”
