Texas softball drops game one to Texas A&M. What happens next for the No. 1 Longhorns?
Checkers, chess, football or, in this case, Super Regional softball. There’s always plenty of drama when Texas and Texas A&M face off.
In this case, Texas A&M survived a harrowing final two innings to fend off No. 1 Texas 6-5 in the first game of a best-of-three NCAA Tournament Super Regional series Friday at McCombs Field. With their backs suddenly against the wall, the Longhorns (50-8) will try and fend off elimination Saturday at 4 p.m.
And his team will be ready for the moment, Texas coach Mike White vowed Friday.
More: Texas softball will get a taste of its SEC future against Texas A&M in NCAA super regional
“It's about not hanging your head and just coming out and playing like a game is on the line,” he said. “It's your season. I mean, we're not going to hide from it. It is what it is. We've got to play better than what we did today. We've got to pitch better, that’s the bottom line. Hopefully, the pressures on Texas A&M not to lose.”
Trinity Cannon, a senior first baseman for Texas A&M from the Dallas suburb of Forney, took the air out of a sold-out McCombs Field with a three-run home run in the first inning, and she added a two-run shot in the fifth to increase the Aggies’ lead to five runs.
After another run in the sixth frame, the No. 16 Aggies (44-13) seem to have an insurmountable 6-0 lead. But Texas’ power-packed lineup, handcuffed by Texas A&M starter Emiley Kennedy for the first five innings, found its groove in the final two frames. Freshman Victoria Hunter came on to pinch-hit for classmate Kayden Henry with the bases loaded and sent the first pitch she saw from Kennedy over the centerfield wall for a grand slam in the sixth.
The crowd also gave the team a boost after a dustup between Texas assistant Scott Singleton and his Aggie counterpart, Russ Heffley, between innings led to an ejection for both coaches.
Texas catcher Reese Atwood, one of the three finalists for USA Softball’s player of the year award, trimmed that lead to one run with a two-out solo home run in the seventh inning. But Kennedy finished her complete-game win and seemed ready for more on Saturday.
“Absolutely,” Kennedy said when asked about her availability despite throwing seven innings in temperatures close to 100 degrees on the field. “Now, I just go home, have a good meal for dinner and rehydrate. They have good hitters and they hit pitches efficiently. I just have to hit my spots and I’ll be OK.”
Atwood said that the Longhorns’ four hits over the final two innings can help the team on Saturday, even if Kennedy returns to the circle.
“Going into tomorrow's game, I think we know that we can do it now,” Atwood said. “The first few innings, it was a struggle against Kennedy. She's a great pitcher. So seeing the fire at the end shows what we're going to come in tomorrow and plan to do.”
Who will pitch tomorrow for both teams?
Texas A&M coach Trisha Ford has pitching options for Saturday in Shaylee Ackermann and Emily Leavitt, but those two combined for just 48 innings in SEC play compared to 100.1 for Kennedy.
So will Kennedy throw again tomorrow?
“I’m not telling you,” Ford said, keeping her cards close to her vest. “But she’ll be ready.”
While Kennedy is the unquestioned workhorse for the Texas A&M staff, White has options with four pitchers that have recorded at least 50 innings. Mac Morgan threw 6.2 innings in relief of Texas starter Citlaly Gutierrez, who struggled with her control on a humid day and gave up five hits and three runs in 1 ½ innings. White will likely turn to freshman Teagan Kavan to save the season after she led Texas in innings pitched (108.1), wins (18) and strikeouts (113) this season.
While White won’t ever announce his starter until the moments before a game, he does think his team will respond to the sudden sense of urgency against one of their most bitter rivals.
“You know, that's what we expected of the series, so that was a great way to start things off,” he said. “Obviously, I wish we'd been on the winning side of things, but credit to our team the way they fought back really hard. And credit to A&M for taking advantage of some mistakes early on and getting out to good lead.
“We've got to make sure we come out with a big game tomorrow, give it our best shot and see if we can win two of the three games.”
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas softball drops game one to Texas A&M, faces elimination Saturday
