The No. 7 Texas A&M softball team defeated Louisiana Tech, 1-0, before falling to Utah, 8-7, in day one of the A&M Invite, Friday at the Aggie Softball Complex.
In game one, the Aggies relied on one run to take down the Lady Techsters. The first and only run of the game came in the third when Kaitlyn Alderink belted her first home run of the season right in front of the scoreboard in right center.
In the circle, Maddie MacGrandle earned the win to move to 4-0 as she recorded two strikeouts and only gave up four hits and two walks in six innings of work. Payton McBride tossed an inning in relief to earn her second save of the season. The combined shutout was the fifth for the Aggie pitchers this season.
Against Utah, the Maroon & White took an early lead in the first inning as Keeli Milligan walked and capitalized on a dropped ball in right field to score the first run of the game. The Utes didn’t take long to fight back as they tied the game in the second on a sacrifice fly.
In the fourth inning, Riley Sartain reached base on a fielder’s choice and back-to-back dingers by Samantha Show and Kristen Cuyos to left field gave the Aggies the 4-1 advantage.
Utah responded in the fifth with four runs on four singles and a double to take a one run lead. The Utes added two runs in insurance in the sixth off a RBI single and groundout.
Texas A&M did not go down quietly as they scored three runs in the final frame of the game. Erica Russell reached base on a walk, followed by a Milligan single and another walk to Tori Vidales. Ashley Walters delivered a three-RBI double to left field to cut the Utes’ lead to one. The Aggies had a chance to tie the game with runners on the corners with two out, but a grounder to second ended the game.
In the circle, Show was saddled with the loss. The East Bernard, Texas, native fanned two and allowed nine hits and five runs in 4.2 innings of work. Lexi Smith entered the game in the fifth, striking out one and allowing one walk and four hits in 2.1 innings.
