The Texas A&M softball team swept a nonconference doubleheader against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Tuesday at Davis Diamond by hitting five home runs.
A grand slam by sophomore Shaylee Ackerman highlighted a 7-0 victory in the opener, and she added a homer in a 9-2 victory in the nightcap that included a pair of solo homers by senior Dani Elder and a two-run blast by junior Haley Lee.
A&M (25-5) didn’t score in the opener until the fifth inning but took the suspense out of the nightcap with a three-run first inning as Ackerman hit a two-run homer and Elder a solo shot. A&M put the game away with five runs in the fifth highlighted by Lee’s homer.
A&M broke open a scoreless opener with six runs in the fifth highlighted by Ackerman’s grand slam. A&M, which had managed only one hit in the first four innings off starting pitcher Beatriz Lara (9-5), loaded the bases on infield hits by pinch hitter Taudrea Sinnie and freshman outfielder Bre Warren sandwiched around a single to left field by junior Makinzy Herzog. Lee singled in a run, and the right-handed hitting Ackerman sent a high drive over the right-center field fence. The cleanup hitter had been mired in a 1-for-23 slump, but the two homers Tuesday gave her six for the season with 24 runs batted in.
People are also reading…
“You look at what she’s done, and she’s been really consistent,” A&M coach Jo Evans said. “You’ve got Haley Lee [batting ahead of her] who nobody wants to throw to, and if you’ve got Ackerman swinging the bat like she did tonight, then that makes it really tough on the team. You have to pitch to Haley Lee, or you pick your poison and pitch to Shay.”
Senior Ashlynn Walls capped A&M’s seven-hit, fifth inning in the opener with an RBI double.
A&M threw its 12th shutout of the season in the opener as right-hander Kayla Poynter (7-1) went six innings. The senior allowed four hits, striking out three and walking two. She flirted with trouble and retired the Islanders in order only twice, but A&M-Corpus Christi went just 1 for 12 with runners on base. A&M junior Hannah Mayo pitched the seventh, working around an error and a walk.
A&M freshman right-hander Grace Uribe (6-1) pitched five innings in the nightcap, walking three and striking out three. Elder and Walls each had two hits. Elder, who hit only two homers each of the last two seasons, has six this year. Lee’s homer was her 12th.
A&M-Corpus Christi (14-16), which was swept by McNeese State last weekend in Southland Conference play, was scheduled to open the season at A&M’s Aggie Classic, but the tournament was canceled because of weather.
A&M will return to Southeastern Conference play Thursday at fourth-ranked Alabama.
•
NOTES — Warren was named the SEC player of the week. The former College Station player batted .714 in a three-game sweep of then-No. 23 South Carolina last week. She drove in both runs in Sunday’s 2-1 victory. ... A&M just missed making the USA Today/National Fastpitch Coaches Association’s Top 25 this week with 34 points, trailing No. 25 Baylor by 14 points. A&M is ranked 24th this week by ESPN.com/USA Collegiate Softball and No. 25 by D1softball.com. The Aggies were last ranked in the coaches’ poll in late February 2019.